Stewart Kitchen, Ohio State University's Drum Major Instructor, Charged With Rape And Kidnapping

A drum major instructor of the Ohio State University was arrested on Wednesday and charged with kidnapping and rape of a student. Stewart Kitchen, 28, will appear in Franklin County Municipal Court on Thursday to fight the accusations against him.

According to court documents, cited by the Columbus Dispatch, Kitchen had invited the female student for drinks and raped her after the two went back to his university district house. Documents reportedly showed that the student repeatedly asked Kitchen to let her go home, but he did not abide by the request.

Kitchen was the head drum major for the university's marching band in 2006 and 2007 before he was hired as an instructor last year. He had graduated in 2010. The university's newspaper, the Lantern, reported that the school is also conducting its own review of the incident, which reportedly took place on April 16.

“The university is deeply concerned to learn of criminal allegations against one of our employees of kidnapping and sexual assault,” the university said, in a written statement, adding: “Upon being informed of these allegations by the Columbus Division of Police on April 23, the university moved quickly to place the employee on administrative leave and launched its own internal investigation in accordance with university policy.”

This is not the first time the band has been in trouble. In July, Jon Waters, the director of the band, was fired after he was accused of harassment and a "sexualized culture" in the band, Cleveland.com, a local news website, reported. Waters later filed a lawsuit against the university for discriminating against him based on gender and wrongfully dismissing him without completing required procedures.

According to the university, there have been at least three instances of sexual assault in the band since 2011, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The U.S. Department of Education has also asked the university to provide it with regular updates on the band.