Authorities: State College-Area Assault Suspect Linked to 18 Incidents

Ryan Ho, the 33-year-old arrested after a reported assault Thursday, has been linked to at least 18 other incidents in Centre County, the county Office of the District Attorney announced Friday afternoon.

A number of those other incidents happened on the Penn State University Park campus and in State College borough, where police have been investigating a months-long string of indecent-exposure cases, authorities said.

Charges in those cases ‘will be immediately forthcoming from other police departments,’ including the State College, Patton Township and Penn State departments, according to a news release from the DA’s office.

‘Ho often appeared naked or semi-naked in the residences and in more recent incidents began actually grabbing and fondling the victims, who were typically Asian,’ it reads.

The release also quotes District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller, who said this:

‘Law enforcement was becoming increasingly concerned with the escalation of behavior, and these cases were a priority,’ she said. ‘Response to this call was immediate and collaborative. We hope that Centre County residents, particularly young women, can rest easier knowing that this defendant had been apprehended and is finally off the street.’

Ho, a Vairo Boulevard resident in Patton Township, was picked up by a Ferguson Township officer early Thursday after a reported assault on Oakwood Avenue.

There, according to a criminal complaint, Ho used a screwdriver to open a bedroom window, then assaulted a woman inside.

After he was apprehended a short distance away, Patton Township and State College detectives collaborated in interviewing Ho, according to the criminal complaint.

Ho was soon arraigned before District Judge Daniel Hoffman on assault and related charges stemming from the Thursday incident. He was jailed in the Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of posting $100,000 bail.

Investigators continued to work the case, though.

‘It’s a group effort. Everything is being looked at right now,’ borough police Lt. John Wilson said about 2:30 p.m. Friday.

By late Friday afternoon, Parks Miller’s office reported that search warrants had allowed police to find face masks in Ho’s residence and a stun gun in his vehicle.

Ho, during the Thursday assault, was naked except for a black ski mask covering his face, according to the district attorney’s office. Victims in earlier indecent-exposure incidents in the region described a man wearing a mask, as well.

Ho is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Centre County Court.

Earlier coverage

• Police: More Charges Pending after Reported Assault in Patton Township (May 20, 2011)

• Patton Township Man Charged in Reported Invasion, Assault (May 20, 2011)

• Indecent Exposures Reported in Patton Township (March 12, 2011)

• PSU Police: Indecent Exposure Reported in Runkle Hall (Dec. 16, 2010)