Suspected U groper faces more charges

An additional seven incidents at or near the U have been reported, and police say more charges are pending.

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: February 11, 2009 - 7:02 PM

The man accused of groping female University of Minnesota students was charged Wednesday with an additional seven incidents, bringing the number of alleged victims to nine.

Phillip William Acosta, 41, appeared briefly in court, but did not enter a plea. His bail, which was set after his arrest Feb. 3, remained at $42,000. He is in jail and is to appear next before Hennepin County District Judge Allen Oleisky on Feb. 27.

In most of the incidents, Acosta rode up behind women on his bicycle and grabbed them in the buttocks and then in the vaginal area, according to the complaint filed by Minneapolis Police Sgt. Bernard Martinson.

Acosta didn't have any significant criminal history and didn't know any of his victims. Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said more charges are pending.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Acosta expressed "some infatuation with female buttocks" in his statement to police.

Because of the number of victims and incidents, Acosta could face a four-year sentence if he is convicted, Freeman said. He is charged now with nine counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor. Freeman said he expects a mental health evaluation to be done on Acosta.

"My guess is there's something wrong with this person that causes him to do this," Freeman said.

But James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston, said not necessarily. "Sometimes the more outrageous behavior develops when someone is middle-aged, it's sort of growing old ungracefully," Fox said. Younger men generally don't commit these crimes, Fox said.

Acosta was initially charged with two incidents on Feb. 3 on campus. The latest charges are related to incidents that occurred between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2 on or near the University of Minnesota, with the exception of one in the Uptown neighborhood.

Acosta has no known affiliation with the university.

He was arrested on the university's West Bank shortly after a woman reported being grabbed as she walked near the McNamara Alumni Center around 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 3. As the officers arrested him, dispatchers told them about another reported groping that had happened about 20 minutes earlier on Washington Avenue SE. in front of Moos Tower.

Both of those victims identified Acosta as their attacker.

Acosta's lawyer, Paula Brummel, did not return a phone call.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

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