In the middle of the night September 9, residents of Gilbert Hall were awakened by CPS and the Resident Assistants because of the intrusion of a convicted sex offender let in by a student.
Joshua Nealy, 36, who is currently on post-prison supervision for two separate felonies–including attempted rape and public indecency–was discovered by third floor RA, Keawe’iwi Pilayo, after a student questioned Nealy’s presence in the building.
Pilayo was alerted to the criminal’s presence by a concerned student, after the sex offender had been in the building for several hours. Pilayo went to find Nealy at once. He stayed with Nealy on the third floor of Gilbert Hall for over two hours, trying to convince him to leave the building, but without success.
“I couldn’t call CPS because the man was right there with me and I wasn’t going to go anywhere or take my eyes off of him. We really need a text CPS option, but by texting my co-worker RA’s we managed to get CPS there to confront the trespasser and have me leave very seamlessly,” Pilayo said in an email to the Pacific Index.
With the help of CPS, the RA’s of Gilbert went through the building, accounting for every resident, conducting welfare checks, and taking reports from witnesses.
“Our first priority was to find the individual. We have had to deal with similar situations in the past, where the individual piggybacks off of a student into the building, and our response is to talk with residence life, educating and/or reeducating students on campus in regards to not letting strangers in the building,” said Jerry Rice, manager of CPS.
According to sophomore Mei Li Dott, the event left residents shaken and worried after being woken up abruptly in the middle of the night. Waking up to CPS banging on their bedroom door and being told to meet in the hallway with a mask, Dott and her roommates were informed of the situation.
“I was definitely worried because our dorm is our only safe spot on campus, and it made us feel like it was no longer safe. After the initial welfare checks, we weren’t checked on again, so it was hard to feel comfortable and safe again,” Dott said.
The university sent out a mass email around 3pm on Thursday, September 10, to formally address the situation and confirm that the subject was in custody. — Chandler Fleming
Photo: BOLO’s were posted following the entrance of the convicted sex offender into Gilbert Hall on September 9 (Chandler Fleming)
Major: Multimedia
Hometown: Parker, Colorado
Hobbies: Lacrosse, volleyball, cleaning, organizing, working for Dutch Bros
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