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Registered sex offender Mark Alonzo Williams also assaulted the student after he confronted him about the phone in HUB-Robeson Center bathroom, Penn State University police explain in the affidavit of probable cause.
The student was using a bathroom stall on the ground floor of the HUB around 5 p.m. when he saw that Williams was in the stall next to him with “his cell phone positioned, with the front-facing camera forward, in a manner consistent with someone attempting to capture video of the victim’s genitalia," as stated in the criminal complaint.
The student immediately left and waited for Williams to leave before he returned to the restroom 20 or 30 minutes later, but just as he sat on the toilet he spotted the phone with a red recording light illuminated set up, and could see his body displayed on the screen, he told police according to the affidavit.
The student left the bathroom to call the police and spotted Williams on the sidewalk, so he confronted him. Williams punched him in the face knocking off his glass and making the student drop the phone he was using to record the encounter. The student suffered minor injuries and pain in his temple, but he managed to capture Williams on camera. and Campus surveillance video also spotted him past the White Building and south on Shortlidge Road, according to the criminal complaint.
A witness recognized Williams from a Megan's Law notice, and police used that to link him to a Facebook account where Williams had posted photos of himself in the same outfit he was wearing during the filming and assault, the police explain in court documents.
University police issued a Timely Warning to the campus community when the incident was reported on Thursday.
Williams was charged on Friday with two second-degree misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy, one second-degree misdemeanor count of simple assault, and a summary count of harassment.
He was arraigned by District Judge Don Hahn and was held in the Centre County Correctional Facility after failing to post $15,000 in bail.
His formal arraignment was held before the Honorable Brian K. Marshall on Wednesday, Feb. 22 and an update on the case has yet to be posted.
Williams has a lengthy criminal record. In Dauphin County he has been convicted of the following:
- Indecent Exposure, 1997.
- Speeding of 15 MPH above the posted speed limit, 2000.
In Cumberland County, he was convicted of the following offenses
- Procure For Self/Other Drug By Forgery and related offenses, June 2001.
- Sexual Assault, Indecent Assault, Harassment Stalking, Furnishing Minors with Alcohol, August 2001.
In Centre County, he was convicted of Rape, Sexual Assault, and Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse in August 2022.
He was on parole for the drug forgery at the time of the two sexual assaults, according to court documents. He was released in 2007 and struggled to stay employed and maintain a residency since 2017, filing motions for post-conviction collateral relief three times shortly followed by motions for determination of indigence. But on Feb. 1, 2023, he was ordered to serve out his probation and parole and to pay any remaining costs and fees, according to court documents.
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