Man accused of lewdness at Hofstra library

A 70-year-old man from Uniondale was arrested Tuesday after police said he entered the Hofstra University library, sat behind a female student, and fondled himself.

Karl Wildermuth, of 321 Greengrove Ave., was arrested and charged with two counts of third-degree burglary, forcible touching and public lewdness, Nassau County police said. Two of the counts date to an incident at the library in 2009, police said.

He is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Police said Wildermuth was arrested at about 4 p.m. after the victim notified university public safety officers. Those officers detained Wildermuth, who was taken into custody by Hempstead Village police.

Nassau police said Wildermuth had been banned from campus in 2000 after an unrelated but similar incident. Police said the burglary charges are the result of that ban and that Wildermuth was charged with two burglary counts because a witness identified him as the suspect in an incident from 2009.

In that incident, which occurred on Sept. 30, 2009, police said Wildermuth entered the library and grabbed and squeezed a female victim on the buttocks, which accounts for the charge of forcible touching.

A Hofstra University spokeswoman said in an emailed statement, "Hofstra Public Safety and Hempstead police responded quickly and apprehended the suspect immediately. We encourage members of the campus community to call Public Safety any time they witness suspicious activity or people on campus."