Resident Advisor Charged With False Imprisonment, Sexual Misconduct

An arrest warrant was issued today for a 21-year-old resident adviser for a just-concluded summer study program at the University of California, Davis, for area teen-agers. Zane D. Amenhotep of Hayward is being charged with one felony count of false imprisonment, four misdemeanor counts of assisting indecent exposure, and 15 misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child under the age of 18. Police have found no evidence of offensive touching. The charges stem from an initiation-like game Amenhotep reportedly conducted with program participants. UC Davis police, who are continuing their investigation, confirmed Amenhotep's attorney has made arrangements to surrender his client. Amenhotep, a UC Davis student, worked as a resident adviser for a five-week junior science achievement program sponsored by the campus's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The program, which this summer had 25 participants, is designed to encourage ethnically underrepresented or educationally disadvantaged youth who show promise and talent in the sciences to pursue the study of science in high school and college and as a career. Program director Annie King said she learned of "some things that didn't sound right to me" on the program's last day (Aug. 4). She reported the allegations to the campus police and alerted students' parents the following day. The students and their parents were asked to return to campus Aug. 6 to be briefed on the complaints, to individually provide any information they may have had to campus police investigators, and to meet with UC Davis counselors. "We have made a promise to families to care for their children," said King. "We are all just devastated to think that something like what has been reported could have happened." Robert Franks, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said the campus is re-examining how resident advisers for summer youth programs are selected, trained and supervised. Resident advisers are UC Davis students who live with program participants in the residence halls and provide assistance and supervision. Applicants are screened, references checked and interviews conducted by campus selection committees. In this case, "there was nothing to suggest that any problems would develop," King said. Counseling will be provided to any participants in this just-concluded program who desire it. "We're very concerned about the children involved in this program and their families," Franks said. "We have assured the parents we will do everything we can to ensure against this kind of incident in the future."