Non-student charged with on-campus rape at USU
A 22-year-old man from Willard was charged Thursday with raping a woman on Utah State University campus in September.
Tyler Call, who appeared before Judge Thomas Willmore in the Cache County District Court via video call from the Cache County Jail, was arrested Tuesday morning by Utah State University police on suspicion of rape. The arrest came after a months-long investigation of an incident that occurred in September, said university spokesman Tim Vitale.
Call is not a USU student, nor was he at the time of the alleged incident, Vitale said. The rape occurred on campus, but was not connected to either of the Code Blue sexual assault alerts sent out to students in September and October.
The victim reported the rape to USU police the day after it occurred in her bedroom on campus, according to the probable cause statement for Call’s arrest. Sgt. Jessica Vahsholtz interviewed Call April 24 at the USU public safety office, where Vahsholtz said he admitted to the rape and “absolutely” recognized it was wrong, the police report stated. Accounts from both Call and the woman state that she told him “no” before he tried to have sex with her. They both added that he apologized after the rape.
Call said in the interview with Vahsholtz that no one should have to go through what he said he did to the victim, according to the police report.
Vahsholtz asked Call if he was “afraid it could happen again,” the report stated.
“Well, I mean it happened once. I figure it could happen again,” he responded, adding that he no longer goes into women’s rooms alone to avoid putting himself “in that situation.”
Public defender Darwin Overson entered a not guilty plea on Call’s behalf and requested bail, which the judge set at $20,000. Call, a resident of Willard, Utah, was ordered to leave Cache County immediately after his release from jail and to only return for court appearances. He was also ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with the alleged victim or her family.
A continued initial appearance hearing will take place on May 15 at 10 a.m. with Judge Brian Cannell.
– spencerburt@aggiemail.usu.edu
@SpencerABurt