Woman allegedly raped inside Hill by a U. employee

A University-employed housekeeper with a prior rape conviction was arrested and charged last week with raping a fellow worker in a Hill House lounge. The man, 36-year-old Warren Timbers of North Philadelphia, was arrested by University Police immediately following the August 26 incident. Timbers was charged with rape, indecent assault, indecent exposure, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint and simple assault. According to Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Richard Green, the woman, a 37 year-old housekeeper, was cleaning the lounge when, at 11:30 a.m., Timbers entered the room, locked the door and allegedly raped her on a couch. When Timbers tried to leave, Green said, he found the door was stuck. The woman then ran to a window and yelled for help, Green said, and another worker pulled the door open and Timbers fled. University Police arrested him moments later outside the dormitory. The woman was taken to Thomas Jefferson Hospital where she was examined and released. Green said she did not have any injuries. At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Municipal Court Judge Francis Cosgrove ordered Timbers to be jailed until his trial. He also lowered Timbers' bail from $100,000 to $20,000. Green said Timbers' attorney argued for a bail reduction because Timbers only had one prior rape conviction and he has custody of a child who is ill and requires special care. He said Timbers was convicted in 1974 of rape when he was a minor, but was tried and convicted as an adult. Timbers' attorney, Burton Rose, said yesterday bail was reduced because Timbers has "substantial ties to the community" and "a long track record of good behavior." Numerous family members, neighbors and friends appeared as character witnesses for Timbers at the preliminary trial, Rose added. The incident is at least the second case of alleged sexual misconduct by a University employee in the past year. In December, a building guard at the Medical School was accused of sexually assaulting a College freshman. The guard was fired for what University Police called "administrative reasons." Rogers Davis, the University's director of human resources, refused to answer questions about Timbers and his criminal record, saying the General Counsel's office had advised him not to discuss the case. He declined to say what steps the University takes to check the background of employees. University General Counsel Shelley Green said yesterday she did not know what safeguards the University has to prevent hiring people with criminal records. Director of Residential Living Gigi Simeone said her office screens only McGinn Security Guards, who work at dormitory entrances, before they hire them. McGinn Security came under fire in early 1989 when a guard was arrested for disorderly conduct while guarding Van Pelt College House and was found to have a extensive criminal record. Simeone said Residential Living now conducts spot checks periodically to confirm backgrounds of the guards. No undergraduate students had moved into Hill House at the time of the incident, Simeone said yesterday, but graduate fellows, faculty and the senior administrative fellow were living in the building. Simeone said housekeepers have keys to students' rooms only when a repair needs to be done. She said there is a procedure to sign keys in and out to do repairs. Only residence staff who are on duty in the evenings have rings of keys which provide access to private rooms, Simeone said. Simeone said that once someone is in the building, they can enter public areas such as the lounges and lobbies without keys or identification.

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