Logan Taylor ’17 was arrested on a charge of gross sexual assault, a Class A felony, on Sunday morning. Taylor allegedly raped a female student in a campus residence hall the previous night. Taylor has been issued a criminal trespass order and is barred from all College property, according to a campus-wide Safety and Security Alert sent by Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols.
Taylor was initially held in lieu of $1,000 bail, but it was increased to $5,000 at a hearing Tuesday. As of 6:30 p.m., Taylor was still being held in Cumberland County Jail. His court-appointed attorney Andrei Maciag was assigned to the case today and was not prepared to comment.
The Brunswick Police Department (BPD) and the College are each currently conducting independent investigations.
In accordance with Bowdoin’s Student Sexual Misconduct and Gender Based Violence Policy, the College’s investigation will be led by an independent investigator. In this case, the investigator is a consultant with a law firm in Portland, according to Senior Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs Scott Hood.
The investigator’s report will be presented to the advisor to the Student Sexual Misconduct Board Benje Douglas, Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Students Meadow Davis, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, the complainant and the respondent.
If the investigator’s report recommends that there is sufficient basis to convene a Sexual Misconduct Panel, the Chair of the Student Sexual Misconduct Board (the Dean of Student Affairs or his designee) would convene one from members of the Student Sexual Misconduct Board. The Panel would consist of three members: the Dean of Student Affairs (or his designee), one faculty member, and one student who is a member of both the Judicial Board and the Student Sexual Misconduct Board.
Both the complainant and the respondent would have an opportunity to appear before the Panel. The Panel would first determine by majority vote if the respondent is responsible by a preponderance of the evidence (“more likely than not”). If found responsible, the Panel would determine the respondent's sanction by majority vote.
The convening and decision of the Sexual Misconduct Panel are not dependent on criminal proceedings. According to Hood, the College does not plan to get in touch with the student body about the incident outside of updates to the Safety and Security Alert if and when Taylor is released.
The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The alleged assault was first brought to the attention of BPD after a female student called Bowdoin Safety and Security for a ride from the area of the Swinging Bridge on Mill St. in Brunswick early Sunday morning. The security officer called the Brunswick Police Department at 2:34 a.m. after the student reported concern about Taylor’s welfare, according to BPD Sergeant Paul Hansen.
After speaking with the female student, the officers learned of the allegation of sexual assault which allegedly took place earlier that night in a Bowdoin residence hall.
The female student was taken to the hospital and officers with the BPD began a search for Taylor. He was located in Topsham around 5 a.m. by the Topsham Police Department, who turned him over to the BPD. After talking to BPD, Taylor was officially arrested Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and sent to Cumberland County Jail.
Detectives at the BPD will pass on the results of their ongoing investigation to the District Attorney’s Office. Taylor is scheduled to appear in court on July 21.
This is an ongoing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.