Editors note: This article contains graphic language about sexual assaults.
Four months after a 24-year-old snuck into UF residence hall bathrooms and recorded women, UF Housing installed additional locks on bathroom doors. But residents remain uneasy about their safety.
Deontre Donnell Mason snuck into female-only floors in Murphree Hall and Thomas Hall and took videos of at least nine residents as they showered, used the bathroom and walked up the stairs.
UF Housing plans to install new locks on the bathroom doors in Murphree Hall, Thomas Hall and Buckman Hall starting May 2, shortly after the Spring semester ends, according to Chad Doering, the director of facilities management for on-campus housing.
The $14,000 project is estimated to be completed in about 12 weeks, UF spokesperson Sara Tanner wrote in an email.
UF Housing is making safety changes, but for the victims it comes too late.
Four victims said, when entering their dorm building, they pulled the heavy front door closed behind them because they would rather it shut faster than it would on its own for their safety.
They said they are conscious of what they are wearing and how much skin is exposed. With every footstep in the stairwell, they snap their heads to make sure no one is behind them.
Using the bathroom, they said they can not absentmindedly play on their phones. Their minds are consumed with keeping a watchful eye for potential cameras above their heads.
Taking a shower, they said they make sure the curtains are taut along the pole, covering every centimeter of space possible. They hate that not every hole is attached to a hook. They try to stay as close to the cover as possible, but their hearts can’t help but drop when a sliver of space between the curtain and the wall appears.
On Dec. 2, the then-24-year-old Illinois man entered the Murphree Area dorms by tailgating, which occurs when an unauthorized individual enters a resident hall by following closely behind residents as they enter, William Robinson, the UF residence hall director, wrote in an email.
Jaclyn, a 19-year-old UF biochemistry sophomore, said the incident made her nervous to do the simplest of things in her own dorm, like using the bathroom or taking a shower. Jaclyn’s last name is being withheld to protect her privacy as a victim of sexual violence.
Before coming to Gainesville, Mason committed similar crimes at the University of Minnesota on Oct. 13 and the University of Central Florida on Nov. 29, according to arrest reports. The year prior, he was apprehended in a women-only dorm at Palm Beach Atlantic University and banned from campus.
He was arrested at UCF on Dec. 7 and was released on a $10,000 bond the same day.
Mason said he invaded the women’s privacy to feel the “rush of being caught,” according to the Orange County arrest report.
Mason victimized multiple female Murphree Area residents. He tried to do the same at Library West.
He was charged in Alachua County with nine counts of video voyeurism, a third-degree felony sex offense.
Penalties could include up to five years in prison, five years probation and a $5,000 fine per charge.
Since December 2014, UPD reported 10 cases of video voyeurism — five in the last five years — according to UF public safety data. Four of them resulted in an arrest, including Mason.
Four of the 10 cases occurred in on-campus residence halls, but this case was the first since October 2016.
In the months following the incident, women involved feel their trauma doesn’t matter to UF and the housing department.
A timely warning was sent to the UF student body by the public safety department Dec. 3, the day after the incident, describing the incident and the suspect.
A 19-year-old biology freshman, who agreed to identify herself as a victim of Mason’s actions if her real name was not used, said the email “brushed off this crime as no big deal,” despite the fact so many residents were directly violated.
In a follow-up email, Murphree Area residents were told to not let people follow them as they entered or exited their residence hall and to be “mindful of maintaining a safe environment for all residents.”
“It felt as if we were being blamed for this incident with no responsibility taken by the school,” she said.
On Feb. 16, a follow-up warning was sent out, reminding students of the initial incident and informing them the suspect had been identified. The email also mentioned there was a warrant out for his arrest on the charges of burglary and video voyeurism and he is banned from UF properties.
Megan Caufman, a 19-year-old wildlife ecology and conservation freshman, has been afraid to live in Murphree Area since the incident.
Entering her dorm building, she pulls the heavy front door closed behind her, trusting her strength to shut it quicker than it would on its own. Walking up the stairs, she is conscious of what she is wearing and how much skin is exposed. Every footstep in the stairwell causes her to turn her head and verify no one is behind her.
She feels like those affected had to reach out to UF and beg them to do something about the situation.
“Since the guy who did it is gone, it’s kinda like UF forgot about it and therefore forgot about the victims,” she said.
Along with other structural changes to the residence hall itself, such as replacing the existing double shower curtains with solid doors, victims said they wished there was more consistent police presence outside the dormitory.
Uniformed officers patrol campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, Captain Latrell Simmons said.
The Student Community Oriented Police Effort, also known as the SCOPE program, assigns officers to specific residential areas — Murphree Area being one of the largest and busiest.
Educating students and the faculty and staff that serve them is a top priority, especially in crimes like video voyeurism, Simmons said.
No matter how many officers patrol campus, they can’t do it all themselves, he said. He stressed the importance of the “see something, say something” initiative.
