Updated 3/15/15 5:30 p.m.
Alamance County Jail said bail was posted Sunday afternoon for Tristan Pierre Hardinger, an Elon first-year student who was charged Friday by Elon University Police with second-degree rape and second-degree sexual offense.
Hardinger's bail was set at $75,000.
Vice President of University Communications Dan Anderson said the complainant is a female Elon student.
Anderson said Hardinger is still enrolled as an Elon student. He said the University will conduct a separate investigation, independent from the legal process, on this incident.
The Office of Student Conduct will hold a hearing to decide, based on evidence, whether there was an honor code violation. Anderson said both Hardinger and the complainant will have the opportunity to appeal.
"If the student who is accused in this case chooses to withdraw from enrollment, we still go ahead and do the honor code process," Anderson said. "That would determine whether they would be able to re-enroll at future date."
He said the whole process will happen in the next few weeks. In these hearings, penalties range from no punishment to permanent separation from the university.
Dean of Students Smith Jackson said as soon as the university was notified of the arrest, Hardinger was informed that he may not return to campus for any reason without first meeting with the Senior Administrator on Call, the Associate Dean of Students or the Director of Student Conduct.
Dean Jackson said in situations such as this, until the university student conduct process is concluded, Hardinger is permitted on campus only to attend classes. He is not permitted to live in on-campus housing.
The exact North Carolina law says a person is guilty of "rape in the second degree" if the person engages in vaginal intercourse with another person:
(1) By force and against the will of the other person; or
(2) Who is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and the person performing the act knows or should reasonably know the other person is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.
(b) Any person who commits the offense defined in this section is guilty of a "Class C" felony.
North Carolina law says a person is guilty of a "sexual offense in the second degree" if the person engages in a sexual act with another person:
(1) By force and against the will of the other person; or
(2) Who is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and the person performing the act knows or should reasonably know that the other person is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.
(b) Any person who commits the offense defined in this section is guilty of a Class C felony.
A "Class C" felony, according to state law, is punishable by 44 - 92 months imprisonment, which is about 3.5 - 7.5 years.