By Matt Kiernan and Jason Cunningham
Audio Story By Jason Cunninghman
Audio: James Hall Intruder Arrested on Sexual Assault Charge
Chlevera Trimmier, 19, of Hartford, was arrested on charges of sexual assault in the fourth degree, among other charges, after intruding on James Hall residents Thursday night, Sep. 16.
Trimmier , who’s not a student at CCSU, was a visiting friend of a resident at James Hall, and was allegedly able to enter several women’s rooms in multiple suites that were left unlocked. When questioned by residents, he allegedly claimed to be a resident assistant.
James Hall resident assistants called the CCSU campus police after the students who were disturbed by Trimmier notified them of his presence.
“There was a knock at my door, and then the door opened, and there was some strange guy I’d never seen before standing in my room. He asked me if ‘I could sleep there;’ I politely told him ‘no,’ and he left,” said Brooke DelGiudice, a junior majoring in psychology and resident of James Hall. DelGiudice added that Trimmier seemed intoxicated, but non-threatening.
Other students in the hall had similar experiences.
“He kept trying to shush me; he said it was for an initiation,” said Hannah Simeone, a senior majoring in communications. Simeone says this was after Trimmier entered her room and was questioned who he was. After Simeone started to raise her voice, Trimmier left.
There is no confirmation as to whether Trimmier was a part of an initiation process.
“Students are still propping open the external doors and I’m sure they’re doing for completely good intentions or for convenience reasons, but that puts the entire resident hall at risk,” said Mark McLaughlin, associate vice president of marketing and communications at CCSU.
McLaughlin points to student responsibility as a key to improving student safety on campus. Sign-in records are currently being investigated to see how many times Trimmier has stayed on campus.
CCSU police have issued a “persona non grata,” which means he is forbidden to come to campus.
Staff from Student Affairs, the Women’s Center, Counseling and Wellness, campus police and Residence Life met with students Thursday night to address the incident. From the discussion, one suggestion was established for heightening security which was to increase the number patrols of residence halls.
All students who attended the meeting agreed on the importance of enhancing their safety by locking their doors and being alert to and reporting suspicious activity.
Further meetings with the Counseling staff will be held upon student requests.
The CCSU administration is asking students to enroll in the University’s Emergency Notification System. The system can notify students via text messages and voice mails of threatening conditions or situations.
This can be accomplished by visiting www.ccsu.edu and clicking the emergency notification system link on the homepage.
Trimmier is facing several criminal charges including criminal trespassing, criminal mischief in the third degree, sexual assault in the fourth degree, 10 counts of burglary in the third degree, as well as 18 counts of disorderly conduct. Trimmier’s bail was set at $100,000 at his Friday, Sep. 19 arraignment in New Britain’s Superior Court.
He returns to court on Oct. 13.
