Mustang Daily Staff Report
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Police escorted a man from the third floor of the Robert E. Kennedy Library on Saturday after a student notified them of a suspicious individual viewing pornographic material on a library computer.
The male was looking at a dating website that had pictures of naked women, which students found disturbing, University Police Department (UPD) Sergeant Robert Eckrote said. UPD did not have enough cause to make an arrest or press any charges on the male, Eckrote said. However, since the male was not affiliated with Cal Poly, UPD exercised the right to prohibit the man from returning to campus for seven days under Penal Code 626.6, which gives police the power to remove an individual from a university campus if the person “is committing any act likely to interfere with the peaceful conduct of the activities of the campus or facility.”
The male was middle-aged, had brown hair that was beginning to gray and was about 180 pounds, according to economics junior Derek Rieger, who contacted the librarian about the incident.
Rieger was on the third floor of the library when the male sat in front of a library computer and adjusted his screen to allow for privacy, Rieger said. He said he thought the man appeared awkward, but he did not think anything of the situation until obscene pictures began to appear on his screen.
What was even more disturbing than the pictures was the man’s body language Rieger said.
“His legs were wide open, his whole demeanor was fidgety and he was starring at the women around him,” Rieger said
The people nearby seemed to notice his odd behavior, but Rieger said he was the only one able to see the computer screen and understand the situation.
“I wasn’t sure if I should call him out or tell someone, because I didn’t know what UPD could do about the situation,” Rieger said. “I ended up posting a status on Facebook along with a picture of the man.”
The post received a lot of attention on Facebook and had a variety of comments from his friends, some merely mocking the situation, while others took the situation more seriously and expressed their concern.
Eventually, Rieger decided to notify the librarian of the incident. The librarian contacted UPD and the officers escorted the man off of the premises.
“It wasn’t until the police showed up that everyone became aware of the situation,” Rieger said. “Everyone seemed disturbed by it and a lot of people thanked me for doing something about it.”
Sara Natividad contributed to this staff report.