UC Berkeley shocked as employee arrested for suspected serial rapes

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21  - University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) Friday expressed "shock" over one of its employees who was accused of suspected several rapes that took place throughout multiple counties in northern California for more than a decade.

The university said in a statement that it was shocked to "learn that a campus employee was arrested in connection with a series of rapes that occurred more than a decade ago in several Northern California communities."

It identified the suspected employee as Roy Waller, who was taken into custody by police and is on investigative leave.

Waller has worked as a safety specialist in the university's Environment, Health and Safety office since 1992, whose duty was managing programs to help ensure safety and training regarding the use of machinery equipment such as forklifts, aerial lifts and respirators, said the university.

UC Berkeley released a statement shortly after police authorities in Sacramento, capital of California state, announced early Friday Waller's arrest on suspicion of a series of rapes in several assaults over a 15-year period beginning in 1991.

Police said 58-year-old Waller committed the crimes in multiple cites and counties in northern California, including Rohnert Park, Sonoma, Vallejo, and Martinez. Investigators said genealogy test results helped link Waller's DNA to the crimes.

UC Berkeley quoted police sources as saying that there is no indication that any crimes occurred within the campus community, which suggested that Waller was not a rape threat to students and employees living at its Berkeley campus.