Students were informed via an electronic campus crime alert from the Miami University Police Department that a sexual assault was reported in Heritage Commons on Oct. 12. The initial email, sent out on Oct. 19, indicated that MUPD was still investigating and searching for a college-aged, Asian-American male with brown eyes and brown hair, around 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.
Two weeks later, sophomore Nicolas Cristescu stood for one of his first hearings on Thursday, Nov. 2 in the Butler County Area I courthouse in Oxford.
Cristescu appeared before the judge wearing an orange Butler County prisoner jumpsuit. Both his hands and feet were shackled.
Cristescu was initially charged with one count of rape and sexual battery, five counts of pandering obscene material to a minor, one charge of voyeurism, one charge of marijuana possession and one charge of marijuana paraphernalia.
The five charges for pandering obscene material were merged by the state into an amended class one misdemeanor for disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Cristescu plead guilty to the misdemeanor as well as the charges related to marijuana possession and paraphernalia in the courthouse last Thursday. His sentencing for those charges was continued to Thursday, Dec. 14 at 1:00 p.m in the Butler County Area I courthouse.
However, the charges for rape, sexual battery and voyeurism were all dismissed by the state in the Butler County Area Court system, because Judge Robert Lyons cannot hear felonies in Oxford.
Instead, Cristescu was indicted by a grand jury in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas on one count of rape, one count of sexual battery and 11 counts of voyeurism, according to publicly available court records.
His arraignment hearing for the rape, sexual battery and voyeurism charges was held on Monday, Nov. 6 in Hamilton, OH at the General Division Court. During the procedural-based hearing, Cristescu's bond was set for $75,000, which he has not posted. Cristescu remains in Butler County prison.
Cristescu's second hearing in the Court of Common Pleas will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27 in Hamilton, Ohio, according to the criminal relations department in the legal division of the Court of Common Pleas.
As of right now, Cristescu is still registered as a student at Miami according to Claire Wagner, director of university news and communications.
Updates on Cristescu's court proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas will be available at miamistudent.net.
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An earlier version of this story misspelled Cristescu's first name as "Nicholas." This story was updated on Nov. 7, 2017 at 4:29 p.m. to include new information regarding to Cristescu's court proceedings.
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