A white University of Florida senior accused of sexually assaulting another student was released last week after a judge backed the defense’s characterization of the man as a “high-achieving student.”
Ian Milaski, a 21-year-old former residence hall assistant from Cape Coral, was arrested on August 28, after a female student called university police on him a day earlier, according to NBC 2.
It’s unclear why Milaski wasn’t arrested until the day after the student called police, but she said Milaski pinned her on his bed and tried to put his finger in her underwear August 25, NBC 2 reported.
The incident started when Milaski allegedly called the woman, an acquaintance of his, and told her he was drunk and needed water, according to ABC affiliate WCJB.
He reportedly was not in his room when the woman found him because she said she walked Milaski back to his room, where he tried to “make out” with her, the news station reported.
When she refused, Milaski pulled her wrist and told her “I want to sleep with you,” WCJB reported.
She told him she needed to get her keys from the hallway and she walked toward the door, according to an incident report NBC 2 obtained.
At that point, he picked her up, placed her on his bed and tried to sexual batter her, the report stated.
When she escaped, she allegedly asked her roommate and another friend to stay with her in her room but she said she saw Milaski later that night at her doorway and that he tried to lay next to her, several news outlets reported.
She said she yelled at him to leave, waking her friend who then, did the same.
Milaski’s initial bond was set at $125,000, and he was charged with battery and false imprisonment, WCJB reported.
He was released on his own recognizance after his attorney asked the judge in a motion WCJB obtained to reduce bail due to a “hurricane threatening his southern Florida home” and “his obligations as a double-major senior at the University of Florida.”
The motion described Milaski as a “high-achieving student” who is “slated to graduate in May 2020 with degrees in both business administration and economics” and has “personally performed more than 210 hours of community service in the last two years.”
The judge granted it but ordered Milaski to have no contact with the victim, WCJB reported.
He is also not allowed to return to Alachua County or Sarasota County except for court appointments and “necessary events” at the university, WCJB reported.
The University of Florida released a statement to Atlanta Black Star Wednesday stating that student safety is one of its “highest” priorities and that it “takes very seriously the security of its campus.”
“While federal law prevents us from releasing information related to the educational records of individual students, Ian Milaski is no longer a resident assistant,” the university said in its statement. “Upon receiving a report of an attempted sexual battery in which Ian Milaski was identified as a suspect, the University Police Department immediately began an investigation and arrested Mr. Milaski within hours.
“Soon after, he was trespassed, meaning he is no longer allowed on campus.”
