Fresno City College warns students after man allegedly gropes woman inside library

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- At Fresno City College and outside of the chimes, the talk of Fidel Tafoya is sounding off around the campus Friday.

Students at FCC are on high alert after Tafoya allegedly touched a female student inside the school's library. Authorities say he has a long history of going to colleges and sexually battering female students.

According to police, that female student walked away, but a staff member inside the library witnessed the sexual battery unfold and stepped up and turned Tafoya in.

"It's shocking, I come here," student Marisabel Corona said.

"It's pretty upsetting," student Alfred Lorenzo added.

It's especially upsetting and alarming after a notice sent to students Friday informed them that Tafoya allegedly inappropriately touched a female student Wednesday.

Campus police chief Jose Flores believes the victim, who did not report the crime, may not have been aware of what happened.

"Sometimes people that he has encountered are not even aware that he's done this for them," he said. "It's just a bumping."

The man in his 50s has a long history of sexual battery, with 15 sex-related convictions since 1998. And in 2012, the serial offender was arrested for inappropriately touching another female student at Fresno State's library.

The judge for that case gave him the maximum sentence the law allows for misdemeanors - six months in jail. Some students feel that was not enough.

"If necessary precautions were taken, it could prevent things like this from happening," one student said.

Fresno City College campus police say surveillance cameras captured what may have happened to the female student on its campus, but they need her to come forward to confirm what was seen.

The college says they are taking this incident very seriously. And even though Tafoya has not been charged with anything, he is not allowed on the school's campus.