Former Wash. U. student posted photos of classmates to sex fetish website

Kathleen White | Staff Reporter

Former Washington University student Alex Zhang, who graduated in 2014, has been suspended by the University of Miami School of Medicine and is currently under investigation for posting photos of his female classmates to sex fetish websites.

Zhang allegedly copied photos from women’s social media accounts and posted them to multiple fetish websites. Some of the posts identify the women by name.

When Zhang was a student at Washington University, he allegedly posted photos of his female classmates to similar websites. The photos first came to the attention of one of Zhang’s former Washington University classmates, who spoke anonymously to Student Life, when she searched her name online in 2013,

“The top result was an image gallery where pictures of me were posted. The pictures had my full name in the description and described me as a whore, slut, etc. The pictures were from my Facebook where my feet were visible in the photo,” she said.

The former classmate realized Zhang was behind the posts when she recognized other women from Washington University on the sites and noticed they all had Zhang as a mutual friend on Facebook.

“The fact that he adds our names to every photo indicates that he gets something out of exposing us,” she said.

Zhang’s former classmate reported the photos to the volunteer group that she and Zhang were both part of, and from there it was reported to a student disciplinary group at Washington University.

“I believe Wash. U. sent a cease and desist to the website, and the images were taken down very soon after. In the end, I don’t believe Wash. U. was able to take any further action against Zhang because they couldn’t prove it was him,” she said.

A number of Washington University students reacted to the allegations against Zhang on social media, particularly through a post in the group “Overheard at WashU.”

“My full name was on one photo, but a lot of my friends were not named,” former Washington University student Gaby Garcia commented on the post. “I’m submitting my statement to the UMiami investigation so that this creep can hopefully get expelled.”

Two of Zhang’s current classmates at the University of Miami have filed for restraining orders. His former Washington University classmate is currently pursuing legal counsel and submitting testimony to the University of Miami.

“Between [the] disrespect for our privacy, publicly fetishizing us without our knowledge and his own descriptions of what seems to be sexual assault, it’s absolutely terrifying to imagine Zhang as a doctor,” the former classmate said. “My suggestion would be that anyone who was affected and feels comfortable writing a testimony should do so to make sure that he does not become a doctor.”

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