FAIRFIELD — A former student at Sacred Heart University has been charged with sharing intimate photos of a female student without her permission.
A 20-year-old female Sacred Heart student reported to police on October 6 that she believed she was the victim of a sexual assault.
According to officials, the victim said she met the suspect at an off-campus party, where she was intoxicated and blacked out.
She believed that a male identified as 20-year-old Nicholas Otto-Bernstein, of New York had sexual intercourse with her and took a nude photo — both without her consent, she told police.
Deb Noack, Director of Communications for the school said in a statement:
Sacred Heart University’s primary goal is always the protection of our students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus. To that end, we have been investigating this incident since it came to our attention. The student who was alleged to have distributed the photo has voluntarily withdrawn from the University. Beyond that, federal privacy laws prevent us from commenting on individual students.
Authorities later determined Otto-Bernstein took the nude photograph of the female victim and disseminated it to other students after it circulated online through the mobile application Snapchat.
Otto-Bernstein faces several charges including illegally disseminating intimate images, according to police.
Officials learned Otto-Bernstein was a student at Sacred Heart, but a school spokesman said he had voluntarily withdrawn from the university.
He turned himself into detectives on January 10 and is free on a promise to appear in court.
A message was left with Otto-Bernstein’s attorney.
