VIRGINIA BEACH — A teenager was charged with assault after several Tidewater Community College students accused him of groping them on campus.
Tyson Washington, 18, was charged with two counts of simple assault on June 2 in connection to incidents that happened while he was a student at TCC.
Washington’s arrest came more than two months after a woman told the TCC Virginia Beach security office that a man groped her in a campus hallway, according to documents filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
The woman said that the assault happened on March 28 after she’d finished an exam. She said she was sitting in the school hallway when Washington approached her and made small talk. As he was leaving, he hugged her, then grabbed and “caressed” her breast, court documents state.
The woman didn’t know Washington’s name at the time, but reported the incident to a teacher and campus security, according to TCC spokeswoman Marian Anderfuren.
Anderfuren added that campus security investigated the woman’s allegations by using security camera footage, but were unable to identify him at that time.
“When the female student did eventually identify him, again campus officials took the appropriate disciplinary steps,” Anderfuren said. “Mr. Washington is no longer a student at TCC.”
On April 25, the woman saw Washington on campus again as she was leaving class. She watched him drive away in a car, took note of his license plate and reported the information to TCC and the Virginia Beach Police Department. Later, police found his car on campus and confirmed Washington’s identity.
In total, four women came forward to TCC officials and said they were groped by a man on campus. Washington has only been charged with two assaults: one in February and one in March.
