The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Ex-Sacred Heart student charged in voyeurism case
BRIDGEPORT — A former Sacred Heart University student has been charged with two felonies for allegedly disseminating nude photographs of a young woman on social media.
Nicholas Otto-Bernstein, 20, of New York City, turned himself in to detectives on Jan. 10 and was charged with disseminating intimate images, voyeurism and disseminating voyeurism images.
Voyeurism and disseminating voyeuristic material are Class D felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. The other charge is a misdemeanor.
Otto-Bernstein is free on a promise to appear in court Feb. 28.
His lawyer, former federal prosecutor Felice Duffy, did not return calls for comment.
A Sacred Heart University official said Otto-Bernstein withdrew from the Fairfield university in October
following the woman’s complaint.
“Sacred Heart University’s primary goal is always the protection of our students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus,” Deb Noack, a spokeswoman for SHU, said Monday. “To that end, we have been investigating this incident since it came to our attention.”
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, on Oct. 6, a 20-year-old woman and SHU student went to the Bridgeport Police Department and reported that she had been sexually assaulted.
The woman told police she had gone to a “Sacred Heart house party,” on Reservoir Avenue with some girlfriends on Oct. 5. At the party, she recalled drinking two alcoholic beverages before midnight, the affidavit states.
The woman said she did not remember anything after she finished her second drink, including how she made it home nor who accompanied her back to her residence in Bridgeport, the affidavit continues.
The affidavit states that the next thing the woman remembers was 1:14 a.m. on Oct. 6 and looking at a text message from a friend sent at 12:46 a.m. telling her that a nude photo of her had been digitally shared.
On Oct. 7, the university’s
Investigative Supervisor Peter Bravo, a former Fairfield police detective, sent Bridgeport Police Detective Albert Palatiello an email identifying the suspect as Otto-Bernstein with his New York address, the affidavit states.
The woman viewed a suspect photo lineup and picked out a photograph of Otto-Bernstein taken from his Facebook page. She said she was 100 percent sure of her selection, the affidavit states.