Naked man caught lurking outside sorority at Ohio university, police say

A man in a tiny red swimsuit was caught on camera lurking outside a sorority at Kent State University in Ohio, media outlets report.

Police say it might be the same man who rang the doorbell of the same sorority in August while he was naked, WKYC reported. He’s also suspected to be the same person who’s been sending lewd photos to sorority members on Instagram — with his face covered, the Cleveland, Ohio TV station reported.

“Is it possible that it’s a college student playing a prank? it is possible,” Kent police Capt. Nick Shearer told WKYC. “But we can’t sit here and say that’s the way we’re investigating it because there could be a serious side and much more concerning side.”

The university released a statement Monday that its “aware of a man approaching sorority homes in the city of Kent.”

“The safety of our students and community members is our top priority, and we take these reports seriously,” the university wrote in the statement.

A video published online Monday by KentWired.com, the student newspaper, shows the man in a small red swimsuit similar to a Speedo and touching himself as he stands directly in front of a Nest doorbell camera. The man is covering his face with a cellphone in the video.

On Tuesday, the campus television station TV2 tweeted a picture of the man that showed his face.

Police say the man hasn’t attempted to break in to the house or “act out physically,” the Record-Courier reported.

“We don’t have any indication that this guy has tried to enter anybody’s home, we don’t have any indication that he has tried to hurt someone or cause harm to anybody,” Kent police Lt. Michael Lewis told KentWired.com. “So we don’t want to create panic and fear, but we do want to make people aware that he is out there.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Naked man caught lurking outside sorority at Ohio university, police say."