Ex-Northwestern Student Indicted On 64 Counts Of Sexual Assault

SKOKIE, IL — A former Northwestern University freshman pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he raped an 18-year-old fellow student in March on the Evanston campus.

Scott Thomas, 20, of the 1000 block of Overleigh Road in Bernardsville, New Jersey, was arraigned May 2 in Skokie on 64 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse of a fellow freshman student.

Prosecutors said several students leaving the library around 2 a.m. on March 16 discovered Thomas having sex with a woman who appeared "lifeless" and could be heard pleading with him to stop. The students intervened, helped the woman pull up her pants and flagged down campus security officers, according to prosecutors.

The woman was taken to the hospital too intoxicated to provide personal information, prosecutors said. Thomas was arrested March 19 by Northwestern security personnel after a rape kit was administered at the hospital.

Campus surveillance video from before the witnesses arrived shows the woman unable to stand on her own and repeatedly removing Thomas' hand from her crotch, according to prosecutors. The woman later told investigators she had no memory of the incident but remembered meeting Thomas at a soccer party, prosecutors said. She said she had been drinking and did not know Thomas well or recall leaving the party with him.

At Thomas' arraignment, Cook County Associate Judge Lauren Edidin ordered that Northwestern save all video recordings it still has showing Thomas on campus between 10 p.m. on March 15 and 4 a.m. on March 16, following a request from his defense attorney to preserve the records.

The judge also granted a request from prosecutors for an order forbidding anyone but Thomas and his attorney from accessing the surveillance footage, which they said captured video of the sexual assault.

"The victim was intoxicated, incoherent and at times unconscious during the sexual assault," prosecutors wrote, in a protective order signed by Edidin. "The video contains sexually graphic and disturbing images."

Prosecutors also asked that Thomas be tested for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, a standard occurrence in cases involving allegations of sexual assault.

According to the indictment, Thomas had sex with the woman while kidnapping her and using force or threatening to use force. Other counts charge him with inflicting bodily harm and accuse him of causing "contusions, abrasions, scratches and cuts" on the woman. Prosecutors said the woman suffered bruising, redness and scratches on her upper lip, arms and wrist.

Thomas, who posted a $5,000 cash portion of his bond without having to be booked into the county jail, was granted permission by Circuit Judge Paul Pavlus to live with his parents in New Jersey ahead of trial after his former attorney, Northwestern law professor Jeff Urdangen, asked to loosen the conditions of his bond.

That eliminated a requirement for his location to be monitored with GPS that had been ordered by Circuit Judge Anjana Hansen at Thomas' initial bond hearing. Urdangen, who said the accusations resulted from an "unfortunate situation" of "drunken sex," withdrew from the case following his successful motion and was replaced by attorney Shelby Prusak.

University spokespeople have not responded to repeated inquiries as to whether Thomas remains enrolled in the college. Urdangen, his former defense attorney, previously said Thomas had been "suspended." Prosecutors said he is no longer allowed on campus. The terms of his bond forbid him from going to the university's campus or contacting any potential witnesses at the school.

With his indictment on 46 counts of class X felonies — the most serious state crime short of first-degree murder with a minimum sentence of 6 years in prison — and 18 class 2 felony offenses, Thomas could be sentenced to hundreds of years in prison if convicted on all counts and sentenced consecutively to the maximum allowable by law. He is due back in court on May 30.

Related:

• Accused Of Rape, Northwestern Student To Return To New Jersey
• Northwestern Freshman Raped By Student On Campus: Prosecutors