On Monday, Oswego City police arrested 42-year-old Dwayne Arruza of Waterloo, New York.
Arruza is currently being investigated for allegedly “engaging in oral and sexual intercourse with a person less than 15 years of age,” according to a press release by the Oswego City Police Department.
Arruza taught at Oswego State for one semester, according to chief communication officer Wayne Westervelt.
“Dwayne Arruza was an instructor who taught one course during one semester at SUNY Oswego. He is not currently employed by SUNY Oswego in any capacity,” Westervelt said.
Some Oswego State students who had Arruza as a professor noted he was absent frequently, and considered his large amount of absences to be unusual.
“He would always miss class and blame it on car trouble,” first-year student Michael Talbot said. “When he showed up to class, he would talk about how he and his girlfriend were having problems. [He] treated us more like friends than students. He was an awkward person, but never made us feel uncomfortable.”
According to former students, he did not give much notice for missing class, and would miss “more than half of [the] classes.”
Other students expressed similar sentiments, and brought up that he frequently mentioned his girlfriend and disputes they had.
One student recounted a story Arruza once told during class, where he said his girlfriend, and mother of his children, was cheating on him.
“It was odd that he would speak about his girlfriend since everyone in the class was a freshman and no one really knew how to respond,” Talbot said.
At the moment of the arrest, Arruza was employed by Cayuga Community College and taught at their Auburn campus.
At the moment of the arrest, Arruza was employed by Cayuga Community College and taught at their Auburn campus. According to their website, for the fall 2019 semester, Arruza taught three English courses: English Skills, Fundamentals of Writing and Freshman English I. However, since being arrested, Cayuga Community College terminated his employment.
“Cayuga Community College’s top priority is always the safety of our students and employees. Wednesday morning, we became aware of charges filed by the Oswego City Police Department against part-time adjunct instructor Dwayne Arruza. Mr. Arruza is no longer employed as of Wednesday. We have shared information with students and staff. As this is a personnel matter, we will have no further comment at this time,” Andrew Poole, public and media relations associate at Cayuga Community College said.
According to police, Arruza used the app “MeetMe” in order to speak to and later meet the victim. “MeetMe” is a social networking app created by The Meet Group that encourages connecting with new people, whether it be online or in person.
Arruza has been charged with one count of each of the following: rape of the second degree, criminal sexual act in the second degree disseminating indecent materials to minors in the first degree, sexual abuse in the second degree, and endangering the welfare of a child.
Arruza was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. The investigation is still ongoing.
Although some of his students critiqued his attendance and the personal stories he would share, they were still surprised to hear the news.
“[I was] very, very shocked. I would never guess,” Talbot said. “[This] is the least expected thing to hear [about] him.”
