Denton man a suspect in series of sexual assaults at UNT, police say

A Denton man who was arrested during the weekend on burglary charges is a suspect in a series of attacks on women near the University of North Texas campus, police said Tuesday.

Authorities did not release the exact number of attacks or attempted sexual assaults, but the crimes could date to October.

Police identified the suspect as Earl Leroy Thompson Jr., 32, who was stopped early Saturday on a traffic violation.

Thompson was then arrested on two warrants of attempted burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit a felony which occurred in February and on May 31, police said. That felony was sexual assault, police said.

Thompson became a person of interest in the attacks through the investigation of Denton and University of North Texas police.

“Thompson was involved in suspicious activity in close proximity to the area of reported assaults,” according to a Denton police news release. “Investigators placed him under intensive surveillance while continuing to pursue forensic evidence.”

During surveillance on May 31, Thompson was performing a sex act on himself while he was at an apartment window of a woman in the 400 block of Withers Street, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He attempted to enter the apartment, but failed, and fled the scene.

Thompson was arrested three days later.

“In a subsequent interview, Thompson confessed and provided significant details to his involvement in three other burglaries of habitations where he intended to commit sexual assaults,” Denton police spokesman Shane Kizer said in the news release.

Those three charges which are pending involve incidents in February in the 2200 block of West Oak Street; and two last month, one in the 1600 block of West Oak Street and another in the 1700 block of West Hickory Street.

“There’s a chance sexual assault charges also could be filed,” Kizer said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Kizer has said the nature of the attacks had been somewhat unusual for the college area because the suspect has been unknown to the victims.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Denton man a suspect in series of sexual assaults at UNT, police say."