Internet Acquaintance Charged with Sex Abuse
NEW YORK--A doctoral candidate at Columbia University has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a student he met over the Internet, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney's office said.
Prosecutors said Oliver Jovanovic, 30, a molecular biology student, met the 20-year-old student from Barnard College a month ago over the Internet. The woman told police that soon after the two began conversing on the Internet, she met Jovanovic for a dinner date and then agreed to go to his apartment to watch videos.
Prosecutors said Jovanovic is charged with sexually abusing the woman at his apartment during a bizarre 20-hour bondage during which her legs were tied to a chair. The woman said Jovanovic burned her with candle wax and threatened to dismember her before finally letting her go.
Jovanovic said through his lawyer that he "categorically denies" the charges.
The woman did not go to the authorities until weeks after the alleged Nov. 22 incident and had continued to communicate with Jovanovic over the Internet, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Jovanovic on Friday; he was charged with aggravated sexual abuse, second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment. He was being held on a $350,000 bond.
Linda Fairstein, head of the sex crimes unit at the Manhattan district attorney's office, said at the bail hearing that police reported finding "tape and instruments of torture" in Jovanovic's apartment.
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