A Temple student pleads to sexual abuse, burglary. Questions arise on whether Temple should let him stay

The 2022 case made headlines and led to student protests at American University: A male student entered two female students’ dorm rooms without permission on Oct. 31, took underwear, and touched one woman on the inner thigh while she was sleeping.

The man, David Kramer-Fried, fled the room when the woman awakened, according to court documents. Police later found a pair of women’s underwear in the front pocket of a hoodie that Kramer-Fried was seen wearing that night on security video, the documents said. The university eventually barred him from campus.

He was arrested last December and on June 14 of this year, Kramer-Fried pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and misdemeanor sexual abuse — charges that don’t require him to register as a sex offender.

» READ MORE: Former AU student pleads guilty to Leonard Hall sex abuse, burglary

About the time of his plea, his public defender noted he was enrolled full time as a student at Temple University, while also having to regularly report electronically to the court’s pretrial services. Kramer-Fried, now 21, awaits sentencing scheduled for Aug. 23.

It’s unclear at what point after his arrest Kramer-Fried was accepted to Temple, but the situation around his case raises the question of whether, when and what kind of criminal records or activity of potential students should be considered in the college application process — a subject of intense scrutiny in recent years.

Ray Epstein, founder and president of the Temple group Student Activists Against Sexual Assault, believes Kramer-Fried should not be allowed to attend Temple.

“I think people on campus would feel incredibly unsafe knowing that someone who has done what he’s done is present on the campus,” said Epstein, a rising senior from Washington, D.C., who also is student government president, but made clear she was speaking in her capacity as a student activist leader. “He clearly has proven himself to be a threat.”

Kramer-Fried’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment, and Kramer-Fried did not respond to emails.

Temple said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbed and saddened” about “a recent guilty plea by a current undergraduate student” and that it is “investigating, reviewing, and addressing this matter pursuant to university policies, and any appropriate remedies will be implemented.

“While we cannot comment on this specific situation, the university does ask applicants — including those applying to transfer — about criminal convictions, findings of responsibility in certain university proceedings, and pending university investigations.”

Temple declined to say whether Kramer-Fried disclosed the events at American on his application, and whether he was still enrolled at Temple.

At least as of June 17, he was pursuing a degree in public health there, according to a motion filed in Kramer-Fried’s criminal case in U.S. Superior Court in Washington, D.C. His lawyer noted that he had no previous criminal convictions and that this summer he is living with his parents in Massachusetts and working at a retirement home to earn money for next semester.

It’s unclear whether Kramer-Fried would even be able to attend this fall. The burglary conviction alone carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $37,500, although someone with no criminal history likely would have a much lower sentencing guideline range.

In 2019, Common App removed the criminal history questions from the “common” portion of its application “to provide members with the greatest flexibility to determine how best to comply with their local requirements and institutional policies.”

A year later, it stopped asking applicants to include school disciplinary violations after finding that Black applicants reported incidents at more than twice the rate of white students.

“Requiring students to disclose disciplinary actions has a clear and profound adverse impact,” Jenny Rickard, the group’s president and CEO, said at the time. “This is about taking a stand against practices that suppress college-going aspiration and overshadow potential.”

A spokesperson for Common App said the organization could not provide data on how many of its member colleges, including Temple, ask about criminal history or discipline records on their individual supplement sections.

The 10 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) removed the criminal records question from their admissions applications before fall 2022, said system spokesperson Kevin Hensil, but those who choose to live in the residence halls are asked whether they have been convicted of a crime or have pending misdemeanor or felony charges.

A few years ago, Community Legal Services in Philadelphia lobbied Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass legislation that would prevent both PASSHE and state-related colleges — Temple, University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln, and Pennsylvania State Universities — from asking about most types of criminal offenses, with the exception of sex crimes. But it did not pass.

“The vast majority of people who get screened out,” said Jamie Gullen, managing attorney of the employment unit and youth justice project, are those with minor convictions for drug possession or property-related crimes “that are not relevant to their ability to be great college students.” And students of color are screened out at a disproportionate rate, she said.

Asking about criminal records on college applications is not the best way to prevent sexual assault on campus, she said.

If colleges are going to screen, she said, the questions should be narrowly tailored so they do not unfairly discourage students from applying or keep them out.

She declined to comment on Kramer-Fried’s case, saying she did not know all the facts.

Tracey Vitchers, executive director of It’s On Us, the nation’s largest nonprofit program dedicated to campus sexual violence prevention with chapters on more than 350 college campuses, including Temple and American, agreed that the Common App change was made with good intent.

“They should not be barred from education for a minor marijuana offense,” she said. “But then you have a case like [Kramer-Fried’s]. The student hasn’t been sentenced yet. That also adds a layer of complexity.”

She said Temple could be opening itself to legal action if it revokes admission, but added: “Ultimately this should be a conversation about campus safety, not mitigation of exposure to legal action.”

Temple has to weigh whether the student poses a threat, whether he understood the gravity of the act he committed and can learn from it, and whether he failed to accurately answer questions about criminal and disciplinary history on Temple’s application, Vitchers said.

There could be some middle ground, such as allowing the student to enroll, she said, but not allowing him to live on campus and requiring him to attend classes online.

At Temple, Epstein, who is majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing and communication and social influence, has become a campus leader in sexual assault prevention, a mission she has been on since middle school when, she said, she was assaulted.

» READ MORE: Temple University student who has advocated for sexual assault prevention named Truman scholar

When she arrived at Temple in 2021, she sought to join a campus group dedicated to sexual assault prevention but found that it had been defunct for five years.

“I felt an obligation to create that safe space for people because I needed one when I was younger and I didn’t have one,” she said.

Last spring, Epstein, who plans to go to law school, was named a Truman Scholar, a prestigious graduate award.

Of Temple’s response to concerns about Kramer-Fried, she said: “I’m glad they are looking into it.”