Residents of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house at 12 N. College St. say they had no indications that an alleged sexual assault was occurring in the house during the early hours of last Friday.
Benjamin Standen, the public relations chair of Pi Kappa Alpha, said members of the fraternity in the room next to where the alleged rape occurred heard nothing that suggested something was amiss.
Michael Alexandrov, a 19-year-old Ohio University student, has been charged with raping a 17-year-old girl at 2:15 a.m. on May 18 at the fraternity’s house, according to a release from the Ohio University Police Department.
On Monday, OU reported that Alexandrov is not a member of the fraternity. Standen said Alexandrov did attempt to join the fraternity at one point but that it is unclear why he was at the house last weekend.
“He rushed a little, but he was never initiated,” said Standen, a junior studying economics and philosophy. “I don’t know why he was at the house that night.”
After being held at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, Alexandrov’s bond was set at $50,000 by Athens County Municipal Judge William A. Grim. He is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
The 12 members residing at the Pike house are facing the possibility of eviction. According to their landlord, Demetrios Prokos, the fraternity violated its lease by allowing illegal drugs in the house.
Prokos’ actions were compelled by a March 3 incident in which Athens Police executed a search warrant, seizing 16 pipes, one water pipe, one grinder, two bags of marijuana and one book. The charges were dropped, as it could not be proved that the seized items belonged to anyone in the house.
In early May, based on the drug violation, OU informed the Pike chapter that its charter was suspended through 2014.
jb351009@ohiou.edu
