A Gainesville man was arrested Thursday night on charges of sexual battery, loitering and prowling and stalking.
According to the arrest report, 36-year-old Riley Washington was responsible for a series of incidents involving inappropriate behavior towards UF students. He has since confessed to all his actions, Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya said at a press conference Friday afternoon.
The arrest report identified “5 female victims, all college-age, in the last two months, who have reported being ‘groped’ or ‘grabbed’ under their skirts.”
The first report was made in July when a man matching Washington’s description grabbed a UF student inappropriately. Another incident was reported on Aug. 30, when a man with the same description reached under another student’s skirt and grabbed her.
The victim of the Aug. 30 incident chased the man away and was able to see that he got into a pickup truck.
On Sept. 4, a third student reported that a man with this description reached under her skirt and grabbed her.
On Sept. 6, another report was made about a man lifting up a girl’s skirt and then running away. This incident led to a Facebook post in a UF parents group describing the incident, which led to increased parent concerns.
Reports show Washington stalked his victims before assaulting them in several of the incidents.
Descriptions of the car provided by some of the victims and residents allowed law enforcement to identify Washington through surveillance cameras and make a plan to arrest him.
According to the arrest report, GPD tracked Washington’s pickup truck throughout Midtown on Thursday night and through the areas where the sexual assaults had happened.
Around 1:30 a.m., Washington parked and was found hiding in the bushes of a nearby house.
The UF student who lived in the house told law enforcement she had been hearing noises outside her bedroom window for about a week.
The arrest report also noted that she had recently “observed the face of a black male in her bedroom window.”
Once Washington saw GPD, he ran away, eventually confessing to his actions once he was caught.
UF Police Chief Bart Knowles credited a UF student’s report of suspicious activity as crucial to the investigation.
“We had a student that took the time to go to their Gator Safe App and report the suspicious activity that led us to the ability to be able to identify the suspect’s vehicle,” he said.
At a joint press conference held by Gainesville and UF police on Friday to address the arrest, Police Chief Moya asked the public to report any incidents or encounters with Washington.
“Post-arrest, this individual has confessed complete details of his actions, including this egregious case,” Moya said.
Moya said Washington is scheduled to appear in court Saturday morning.
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_
Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies students serving as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice beat reporter. She previously served as a copy editor. She spends her free time running, traveling, having movie nights and going on random side quests with friends.
