Preliminary hearing for sophomore student charged with three felonies postponed until Feb. 2022

Editor's note: The Collegian will not name the complaining witness without consent. Confidential sexual assault resources for UR students include CARE Advocates, which can be reached at advocate@richmond.edu or 804.801.6251; Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisors (PSMA), at psma@richmond.edu or 804.346.7674; CAPS, at CAPS@richmond.edu or 804.289.8119; Virginia LGBTQ Partner Abuse and Sexual Assault Helpline (24/7), at 866.356.6998; Greater Richmond Regional Hotline (24/7), at 804.612.6126; National Sexual Assault Hotline (24/7) at 800.656.HOPE.

The Richmond-John Marshall Criminal-Traffic General District Court continued the preliminary hearing for Kyle Kressler, a sophomore student at the University of Richmond charged with three felonies, to a later date. 

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Alison Martin submitted a document to the district court obtained by The Collegian titled “joint agreed motion to continue protective order” on Nov. 15. The motion, which was signed by both Martin and defense attorney Theodore Bruns indicates that the preliminary hearing is now set to take place on Feb. 1, 2022.

The charges Kressler faces are classified as a class 3 felony for malicious wounding, class 6 felony for strangulation and unclassified felony for rape. Class 3 felonies are punishable by a five-year minimum sentence or 20-year maximum sentence, according to Virginia Code § 18.2-10.

The incidents were reported to have taken place in the Gray Court dormitory at 5:55 p.m. on Oct. 23, according to the UR Police Department crime log.

Kressler is currently out on bond, according to the court documents. The records also state that the court ordered Kressler to not have contact of any kind with the complaining witness or the complaining witness’s household members. He will be subject to GPS monitoring through a private vendor on condition of his bond, according to the records.

The Oct. 25 arrest prompted two first-year students at UR to organize a silent march across campus in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault, which took place Nov. 12 and comprised students, faculty and staff. An Instagram account, @spiders_against_rape_culture, was also created in response to news of the arrest. 

Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, and Kevin Hallock, president of UR, wrote an email to students on Nov. 6 to reaffirm commitment to building a community of care, well-being and belonging in the wake of the recent timely warning.

“Incidents of sexual assault are abhorrent and have no place in society,” Bisese and Hallock wrote. “No one should ever be sexually assaulted or harassed on our campus or anywhere. Our university is working hard each day to provide an environment where students are comfortable reporting incidents of sexual misconduct, and we deeply appreciate the conviction and courage of students who come forward with reports.”

Kressler is not on UR’s campus, Cynthia Price, associate vice president of media and relations, wrote in an email to The Collegian on Oct. 29.

Contact copy chief Madison Richard at madison.richard@richmond.edu, managing editor Meredith Moran at meredith.moran@richmond.edu and editor-in-chief Morgan Howland at morgan.howland@richmond.edu.