An 11th person comes forward in former UW-Madison student, Alec Cook’s, sexual assault case

An 11th alleged victim has come forward with new charges against former UW-Madison student Alec Cook. Cook is currently facing 21 criminal sexual assault related charges from 10 women.

According to Channel 3000, the University of Wisconsin Police Department informed District Attorney Ismael Ozanne that new charges were being filed against Cook. These charges come from a new report that is unrelated to the original charges, however, the specific charges were not identified. This marks the 11th person to come forward in Cook’s sexual assault case.

At the final pretrial hearing on Friday, Ozanne told the court the UWPD threatened to arrest Cook after discovering he had made contact with a witness. However, after a recess, the UWPD decided to refer these new charges to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office.

Cook was expelled from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on March 24 after a university committee found him guilty of a “crime of violence.” Cook’s lawyers, however, have appealed this decision. UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will have the final say in the matter and has 30 days to respond to the appeal.

Cook was arrested initially in October 2016 and faces charges of 16 felonies and five misdemeanors against women, including second-degree sexual assault, strangulation, stalking, and false imprisonment. In December 2016, Cook was released on a $100,000 dollar bail to his hometown of Edina, MN.

Cook’s lawyers are pushing for a 2018 trial. Judge Stephen Elke has scheduled the final pretrial hearing for June 5th.