As a result of the arrest, Touborg said Harvard University Health Services (UHS) will now require Sodhexo to perform background checks on all its UHS workers. She said she was not sure whether this policy would be retroactive to cover current employees.
Officials in Harvard’s central administration are currently considering requiring all contractors to perform criminal checks on employees who work for the University. Harvard already does criminal checks on all in-house employees, Touborg said.
Fulkerson testified last week that the victim in the Jan. 20 incident had been at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Streets on her way to meet friends for dinner.
According to Fulkerson, Ramos “came up from behind her, cutting her off,” and then “grabbed her between the legs, in the crotch area.”
“She said it was a very forcible grab,” Fulkerson said. “She was very upset and he walked away casually.”
After the graduate student used her cell phone to call the police, the suspect began running away.
Police showed the victim a surveillance video of the area to which the suspect had fled, and she recognized Ramos as the suspect “immediately,” according to Fulkerson.
Police identified Ramos’ clothing as a Harvard custodial uniform, and took the victim to Holyoke Center, where she pointed out Ramos from a group of six to eight workers.
The undergraduate who was the victim of the Jan. 13 assault near Claverly was shown photographs of potential suspects and “immediately” picked out a photo of Ramos, Fulkerson said.
Ramos’ lawyer, Carlos J. Dominguez, said during the hearing that Ramos, who lives with his girlfriend and nine-month old daughter in Revere, Mass., is not dangerous and has no prior history of violence.
“There’s not clear evidence that he’s a danger to others,” Dominguez said, pointing out that Ramos is not being accused of using weapons or verbally threatening the women he allegedly assaulted.
Dominguez said that because the police interview with Ramos was conducted in Spanish, Fulkerson may not have understood what Ramos told him about the assaults.
But Fulkerson said there was a Spanish speaking officer acting as a translator in the interview room.
Fulkerson said at the hearing that the Massachusetts drivers license Ramos presented to CPD for identification purposes was fake.
Ramos’ next court appearance will be at a pre-trial hearing on Feb. 23.
If found guilty, he could receive a maximum of five years in jail for each count of indecent assault.
—Elisabeth S. Theodore contributed to the reporting of this story.
—Staff writer Hera A. Abbasi can be reached abbasi@fas.harvard.edu.