A Louisville man was arrested Saturday and charged with sexual assault for an incident that occurred on the University of Kentucky campus earlier this month.
UK said in a news release that 21-year-old Saif Al-Khafaji of Louisville was arrested by the Louisville Airport Police.
He has been initially charged with sexual abuse and indecent exposure.
Earlier this month UK Police received a report of a sexual assault that occurred overnight on Sunday, November 10. The victim said the assault happened near the intersection of Rose Street and Euclid Avenue, which is near the UK Police Department headquarters.
Police connected the suspect to a separate report of indecent exposure based on the description given by the victim.
He was then identified using the security camera system on campus.
According to court documents, Al-Khafaji is scheduled to appear in Madison County on Monday for a pretrial conference after being charged with harassment and stalking on Eastern Kentucky University’s Campus.
On April 15, EKU police were told about an on-going harassment and stalking related incidents involving female students.
Police said Al-Khafaji would target them while they were walking and pressured them with the intention of going back to his dorm room.
Each victim told EKU police they were scared he would physically injure, sexual assault or kidnap them. Al-Khafaji met with EKU police and told them he engaged about 30-40 or more women on campus since August 2023 and that he had the intent of pursuing a romantic relationship.
He also told police he had offered a student money to model for him.
This was the fifth sexual assault to occur on UK’s campus in the past three months. In September, the campus had three sexual assault reports. A fourth sexual assault happened on Thursday, October 17. In the September and October reports, all the victims were assaulted in campus residence halls and knew the suspects in each case, according to UK Police. UK Police said the sexual assaults in September and October are not connected.
This most recent sexual assault happened just two days after UK Police held a news conference announcing the department would be increasing patrols throughout campus in response to the past sexual assaults and an incident were shots were fired near campus on November 3.
The university said the November 3 shooting happened at the Raising Canes in the area of Winslow and South Upper streets, which is off UK’s campus. No victims were found, and Lexington Police are investigating.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, UK offers free and confidential support at the Violence and Intervention Prevention Center. For more information about the center, call 859-257-3574 or click here.
Source: WDRB
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