Twelve gropings reported in the Harvard Square area over a four-month period resulted in a year marked by safety concerns, discussions and precautions.

Local police responded with an increase in area patrols, which enabled the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) to arrest a University custodian who later admitted in court to groping over 100 women near campus.

The impact of the gropings extended beyond the police to Harvard’s administration, which pushed for a new student escort program and extended late-night shuttle service.

Between Oct. 10 and Oct. 15, three women who were not affiliated with Harvard were groped in separate incidents as they walked alone near Huron and Concord Avenues, just blocks from the Quad.

An undergraduate was attacked in Cambridge Common on Oct. 23 at approximately 8:30 p.m. when a male grabbed her wrist and waist, spun her around, grabbed her breast and then attempted to remove her coat.

On Dec. 2, an undergraduate was the victim of indecent assault with the attempt to rape when she was cutting through the parking lot near St. Paul’s Church on the way to her Dunster House residence. The student was struck from behind with a blunt object, forced to the ground and sexually assaulted.

Then on Dec. 10, The Crimson reported that SafetyWalk, a student group responsible for providing late-night walking escorts, was apparently defunct. Administrators who suggested using the escort program after the St. Paul’s assault were unaware of the program’s dearth of student escorts.

In response to the assaults, CPD officers, HUPD officers and representatives from the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention hosted a forum at the Parish Church to discuss the recent assaults and their repercussions. They encouraged students to walk in groups and well-lit areas and to remain aware of their surroundings.

The night of that meeting, a graduate student was assaulted on Mt. Auburn and Dunster Streets around 7 p.m. when a man coming from the opposite direction allegedly attempted to grab her crotch.

On Jan. 11, an assault took place in which the suspect was on a bicycle. A female undergraduate was groped in Harvard Yard when she reported that she had been touched inappropriately in the buttocks area by a man on a bike while she was walking near Harvard Hall at 9 p.m.

The next incident occurred when a student was groped while walking on Mt. Auburn Street towards Claverly Hall while the suspect was walking in the opposite direction at around 5:40 p.m. on Jan. 13.

This series of incidents prompted Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 to send an e-mail on Jan. 14 to all students outlining safety precautions and stressing the University’s commitment to safety. Gross also announced plans to implement a new walking escort program and to review concerns about spotty shuttle bus and evening van service.

Increased patrols and the assistance of a victim paid off, as Harvard and Cambridge police arrested a University custodial worker after he allegedly groped a graduate student at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Streets around 8 p.m. on Jan. 20. Using footage from surveillance cameras, police arrested University Health Services custodian Geremias Cruz Ramos, 27, of Revere, Mass., around 10 p.m. He was under a detainer from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the time of his arrest and turned over to the custody of immigration services.

Ramos was an employee of the custodial contractor Sodexho, Inc.

A second complaint was filed in Middlesex District Court accusing Ramos of also committing the assault that occurred on Jan.13.