CHARLOTTE — A man already banned from all Central Piedmont Community campuses was accused of going into Midtown campus buildings and exposing himself.
A court document said the man was caught on camera entering three buildings on campus and exposed himself inside the Levine IT building.
It was the fifth time officers arrested Robert Hewitt for indecent exposure since 2022.
CPCC said Hewitt attended the college in 2015.
According to police, the most recent incident happened on the CPCC campus on April 1.
Court documents said surveillance cameras captured Hewitt groping his pants in front of students.
An arrest report said Hewitt then approached a student, dropped his pants and touched his private parts.
A student alerted a college security officer, and he was arrested and removed from the campus. CPCC then turned the case over to local law enforcement.
Students said on Wednesday that they hope officers catch the suspect if he returns.
“To hear that happened in that building where I spend a lot of my time, it’s like, its actually insane. I genuinely couldn’t believe it,” said student Sean Wells.
Police said Hewitt previously acknowledged he is banned from all CPCC property.
He’s in the Mecklenburg County jail on a $10,000 bond.
Statement from CPCC:
“Central Piedmont Community College takes seriously our role in providing a safe and secure learning environment for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors – and we have several redundant measures in place to keep our campuses safe.
“The recent situation involving Robert Hewitt was highly unusual and very unfortunate. This individual is a former student who was last enrolled in 2015 with no credential awarded.
“The systems we have in place allowed our student to alert a college security officer – and our police officers responded and subsequently arrested and removed him from our campus. We turned the case over to local law enforcement to determine the next steps based on his behavior at our campus.
“Our Central Piedmont police officers, as well as unarmed security officers, routinely and proactively patrol our Central Campus location 24/7. Our Safety & Security Division also collaborates closely with local law enforcement agencies for updates, alerts, and information sharing to ensure our campuses remain secure.
“The college also has an extensive network of surveillance cameras systemwide that are monitored around-the-clock, as well as more than 70 emergency blue light call boxes that connect callers directly with our 24/7 Emergency Dispatch Center.
“College security officers are also available to escort individuals to their vehicles.
“Similar to many organizations and campuses, we continue to evaluate our security protocols – but we would reiterate: this was a highly unusual event that has been addressed.”
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