A 68-year-old UNICCO worker assaulted a 20-year-old female UM security guard in a small hallway on the third floor of the Jenkins Building on Nov. 11.
“I was just walking doing my rounds on the third floor when he started talking to me and saying things in Spanish to me,” the victim, Joanne Frederick, said. “Usually he has been friendly to me in the past, but this time there was something funny in the way he was looking at me.”
According to Frederick, the assailant, Emilio Jarquin, was in the process of showing her the doors that needed to be locked and unlocked when he suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Then, he kissed her on the lips as she attempted to pull away from him. Jarquin then tightened his grip on Frederick’s left shoulder and held her right arm behind her.
Allegedly, the assailant called the victim “bonita” [pretty in Spanish] and asked her “que pasa” [what’s up] when she tried to escape.
“He kissed me three times and tried to slip his tongue into my mouth and I just kept spitting it out,” Frederick said. “I yelled for him to stop but he just kept going until I pulled away from him and ran toward the elevator.”
“He followed me and I tried to keep him calm,” Frederick said.
Frederick said that the incident occurred at 9:30 a.m. that morning but that she did not report the incident until later that afternoon after she spoke to her supervisor about the incident.
“I’ve only been working here for a few weeks and I didn’t know exactly how to deal with this thing or who to talk to,” Frederick said. “I was really embarrassed by the whole thing.”
Public safety responded to the scene immediately and a police report was filed.
“This incident was a simple battery, considering the circumstances,” Lieutenant William Gerlach said. “Our average response time is three minutes, and in extreme emergencies we can respond in less than a minute.”
Frederick said she felt uncomfortable during the interrogation because Jarquin kept looking at her.
“While the police was asking questions, he kept offering me money and blinking his eyes at me like he was crazy,” Frederick said. “The whole thing was embarrassing and nasty.”
Jarquin denied comment on the situation. However, on the official police report, he informed officers, via a translator, that he believed the incident was consensual.
The Jarquin family says that Emilio is very upset over the whole thing and they believe that the entire situation was exaggerated and blown out of proportion.
“I’m really happy to say that the university and public safety came over as soon as I notified them of what had happened,” Frederick said. “I just hope they don’t hire people like him anymore.”
Jarquin has been relieved of his duties and replaced. No further action has been taken against him.
Jorge Arauz can be contacted at xxarauzxx@yahoo.com..