Recently expelled Alec Cook will face two new felony charges after an 11 woman reported Cook cornered her in the basement of her dormitory at the University of Wisconsin in 2014.
In total, Cook now faces 23 criminal charges involving 11 women. The charges include:
- Seven counts of second degree sexual assault
- Three counts of third degree sexual assault
- Two counts of fourth degree sexual assault
- Two counts of strangulation and suffocation
- Three counts of false imprisonment
- Two counts of stalking
- Four counts of disorderly conduct
According to the criminal complaint, the 11th told police she met Cook in the summer of 2014 at UW orientation. The two exchanged text messages throughout the summer.
When students moved into the dormitories in the fall, Cook would text the victim several times per day as well as follow her around campus.
Cook’s constant contact was “too much” and “weird and annoying,” the 11th woman told police. Cook would also come to her dorm uninvited and ignore verbal cues to leave.
The situation escalated that September when the woman was alone in the basement of her dormitory doing laundry and Cook walked into the room and positioned himself between her and the door, causing her to become “really scared.”
Over the course of a half hour, she made several attempts to exit the room, but every time Cook would block her path to the door. Two male friends eventually found her and Cook left. They had gone looking for her after Cook said he had been looking for her.
On Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Liegel said in a scheduling conference that he plans to include these new felony charges into the trial.
In an email to The Badger Herald, Cook’s defense team, Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson said they were not surprised that the State sought to include this information.
“This was expected. We knew this was coming,” Van Wagner said. “We expect that the state will seek to have this ‘new’ case, which is based only on an incident said to have happened almost three years ago, joined for trial with the pending charges.”
Cook is set to appear for a hearing Sept. 8, which will determine trial dates.
