More counts expected against student charged with assault (UPDATE)

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A University of Wisconsin student charged with sexually assaulting and choking a woman was expected to face additional charges after investigators said they were contacted by dozens of other women.

Alec Cook, 20, of Edina, Minn., is facing nine charges, including false imprisonment and strangulation, in a case involving a female acquaintance who told investigators Cook assaulted her, choked her until she was nearly unconscious and wouldn’t let her leave his apartment.

After those charges were filed, several other women came forward with allegations against Cook, who has since been suspended from school and banned from the Madison campus. Additional charges involving those women were being prepared, Dane County Assistant District Attorney Colette Sampson said in court Monday.

A search warrant filed in Dane County this week said Madison police have also been contacted by “dozens of other females” since Cook was charged in the Oct. 12 case.

Officers searching Alec Cook’s Madison apartment found a black book with names of women he had met, Madison police investigator Grant Humerickhouse told the Star Tribune.

“The entries went on to document what he wanted to do with the females,” Humerickhouse said. “Disturbingly enough, there were statements of ‘kill’ and statements of ‘sexual’ desires.”

Cook has denied the allegations against him. His attorney, Christopher Van Wagner, said Cook has cooperated with authorities.

“Much of what has been on Facebook has been character assassination of my client,” Van Wagner told the Star Tribune. “He’s been accused of serious crimes, but the media firestorm has prompted a lot of people to apparently go back and re-examine their relationships with him.”

A call to Van Wagner by The Associated Press wasn’t immediately returned.

Cook is scheduled to appear Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court.