"NYU student accused of setting classmate’s clothing on fire" Associated Press January 22, 2015
NEW YORK — New York University said Wednesday that it erred in not immediately reporting to police accusations that a student set a sleeping classmate on fire over the summer, then recorded her putting out the flames.
Jaime Castano was charged Tuesday with assault and reckless endangerment and prosecutors said at his arraignment that the university had not reported the case until mid-October. The episode occurred at his NYU dorm in August.
According to a criminal complaint, the girl fell asleep on Castano’s bed at about 11 p.m. on Aug. 23, and the next day, she had burns on her torso and clothes. Castano told her he had set fire to the comforter, according to the criminal complaint.
He took a cellphone video of the 19-year-old with flames on her clothing while he sang, and she awoke and tried to put out the fire, prosecutors said.
NYU said Wednesday the delay in reporting the episode to authorities stemmed from its practice to give deference to a victim’s wishes to involve police. The woman did not want to go to police until recently, according to university spokesman John Beckman.
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