Teen admits sex attack, beating of Temple student

An 18-year-old North Philadelphia man pleaded guilty yesterday to attacking and indecently assaulting a Temple University student on campus in November.

Steven Holmes pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, robbery and burglary, Assistant District Attorney Bill Davis said after the hearing.

He is to be sentenced Aug. 22 by Common Pleas Judge Karen Shreeves-Johns.

About 7 p.m. Nov. 1, Holmes entered Temple's Anderson Hall, about half a block from where he lived on 11th Street near Berks, and pounced on the 22-year-old woman as she was closing a classroom she had been monitoring.

He beat her severely, then dragged her into a bathroom, where he indecently assaulted her. Before fleeing, he stole her school bag and cell phone.

DNA collected from the crime scene matched Holmes'. He also used the victim's cell phone to call a female friend.

In December, while in prison, Holmes called and intimidated the friend, whom he believed had talked with police about the Temple assault. Yesterday, Holmes also pleaded guilty to witness intimidation in this case.

And he pleaded guilty to an unrelated escape charge. In October, while he was in a city juvenile-detention facility, he escaped by jumping from a third-floor window, police said.

He attacked the Temple student about three weeks later. *