The slew of harassing phone calls has started again.
At least nine female Binghamton University students reported to Binghamton’s New York State University Police on Friday that they had received abusive and sexually explicit phone calls.
The dirty content and method of the calls ‘ a sudden and quick-ending barrage ‘ has police suspecting it was the same perpetrator as last semester’s spree.
‘The series has started again,’ said Investigator Dennis P. Bush of Binghamton’s University Police. ‘Given what victims have told us, we’re confident it’s the same person. [He’ll] make a ton of calls for a short period of time, then not do anything for a while.’
The calls were ‘offensive and sexual in nature’ and were all made to residence halls, Bush said. The caller, a male, has yet to be identified.
Due to the sensitivity of the crime reports, which are currently under investigation with the aid of state police, Bush could not disclose further information as of the time of this printing.
Megan Maikoff, a sophomore nursing student, received her call at 10:30 a.m., Friday.
‘I answered [the phone] and he said, ‘Is this Megan?’ said Maikoff, a resident in Newing College’s Onondaga Hall. ‘I said, ‘Yes,’ and then he said awful things. Very graphic things.’
‘I asked who it was,’ she said. ‘He didn’t answer ‘ he just kept going.’
Maikoff described the voice as mean and malicious. ‘He said: ‘I’m going to find you and I’m going to rape you.’
‘He sounded as if he would do everything he was saying.’
After about 30 seconds, ‘I hung up,’ said Maikoff, ‘and then it rang immediately after.’ Maikoff didn’t pick up this time and 45 minutes later she reported the incident to police.
‘I’m a little shaken up about it,’ she said.
Another female student, who wished to remain anonymous, received a call at around 4 or 5 p.m. the day of Maikoff’s call. The student’s roommate picked up and ‘ again ‘ the caller asked for the resident by name. As soon as the student, a Chenango resident, took the phone and said hello, the caller hung up.
Though the student escaped this round of revolting remarks, she was a victim of the last round. ‘In fall semester it happened to me,’ she said. ‘He said sexually explicit things.’
These two victims had one aspect in common: their numbers are listed in the campus directory, published every fall semester by the University’s Office of Telecommunications. And while last semester’s spree of perverted phone calls caused the office to remove phone numbers of all Binghamton students from the online directory, the numbers remain inked into the pages of the printed directory, which is available to all students.
The directory catalogs home and campus addresses; it also lists either resident or cell phone numbers, depending on the student. Calls made using the campus phone system cannot be traced.
The content of the print directory is under discussion by the Enterprise Data Committee, which coordinates and oversees information security at BU and consists of the University Registrar, Student Affairs and other campus community officials. The question as to whether or not phone numbers will be included in the directory will likely be decided over the upcoming summer, according to University spokeswoman Gail Glover.
‘The print directory is currently under review right now,’ she said.
A similar series of threatening sexual prank phone calls occurred last fall. Police reported that the calls targeted female students living on and off campus.
Victims of the crime are advised to contact UPD and make a report, after which they have the option of requesting mediation, pursuing criminal prosecution and referring the issue to Judicial Affairs.
New York State University Police urges anyone who has information regarding the phone calls to call them immediately at (607) 777-2393.