The suspect is charged with attacking a student in a campus building. The 16-year-old boy charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and robbery in connection with the November 8 attack on a female sophomore inside Steinberg-Dietrich Hall now faces another charge: attempted rape. Steven Woodson, of the 4300 block of West Pennsgrove Street, is accused of attacking the student with a 10-inch knife inside a basement bathroom of the main Wharton School building. The victim sustained minor physical injuries, but several of her friends said she was badly shaken by the attack. Prosecutors announced the additional charge in court yesterday, when a preliminary hearing was postponed until December 28. At that hearing, the prosecution will outline its case and ask a Philadelphia Common Pleas judge to agree that there is enough evidence for a trial. At the brief hearing in the Criminal Justice Center, the prosecutor and a public defender agreed to postpone the formal hearing so that police could conduct a line-up on December 15, for the victim to attempt to identify the suspect who allegedly attacked her with a knife. The victim has repeatedly declined to comment. University Police officials, who investigated the case jointly with city police, did not initially investigate the attack as a sexual assault -- despite the fact that they said it was "probably" the assailant's intent -- because there was "no contact of a sexual nature," University Police Chief Maureen Rush said on November 11. To charge someone with a specific crime, the suspect must both have the intent to commit the act and have physically acted out a part of the crime, according to Penn Law Professor David Rudovsky. "In order to charge someone with attempted rape, the person would have to have both the intent to commit the crime of rape and taken significant steps to obtain that result," he said. He added that judges are guided by precedent in determining whether "a significant step" was taken. Penn Det. Commander Tom King said he wasn't sure why prosecutors decided to add the attempted rape charge. "To my knowledge there were no specific elements present that would indicate a sexual assault," King said. "My guess would be that they probably relied on the totality of circumstances." Several friends of the victim have claimed this month that the assailant attempted to rape the victim. The decision to charge Woodson as an adult was automatic because of a state statute that requires juveniles over the age of 15 who commit certain crimes -- including attempted murder and aggravated assault -- to be charged as an adult. The defense can petition the court to decertify the case and charge Woodson as a juvenile, but it must first prove that society would be better off if that happens, according to Assistant District Attorney Angel Flores. Police believe Woodson entered the building via a side entrance, which was likely propped open by a student who wanted to return later in the evening. The incident prompted the Undergraduate Assembly to take steps urging the administration to increase security in on-campus buildings and urging students to be more wary of possible crime. One proposal calls for students to wear Penn ID badges at night. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Ben Geldon contributed to this article.
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