DURHAM, N.H. (AP) – Police are calling a University of New Hampshire student a “person of interest” in the “Jack the Snipper” case, two weeks after he was caught looking inside an apartment window.

Since June 25, seven women – all under 25 years old – have reported to police that a man entered their off-campus apartments in the early morning hours.

In some cases, the burglar removed the women’s clothes by cutting them off while the victims slept. In others, the man fled when the women awoke.

Gregory Ray, 21, of Westminster, Mass., was caught peering into the window of a first-floor downtown apartment building at 4:45 a.m. on July 30.

An officer confronted him near the apartment and took his name, but did not arrest him at the time because he gave an excuse for his behavior, Deputy Police Chief Rene Kelley told Foster’s Daily Democrat.

However, in later interviews with police, Ray “made certain admissions” that led detectives to seek an arrest warrant for loitering and prowling, Kelley said.

But Durham Chief David Kurz told The Union Leader in an article published Saturday that Ray had no connection with the seven incidents.

Ray turned himself in Friday morning. He was released on $1,000 bail and is scheduled to appear Sept. 4 in Durham District Court. Loitering and prowling is a violation that carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine.

Kelley declined to call Ray a suspect in the so-called “Snipper” case and said he had not been charged with any other offenses.

“He remains a person of interest,” Kelley said.

Campus police also are looking into whether Ray is connected to at least one peeping Tom incident on campus last spring, based on “information that came from the defendant himself,” according to UNH police Capt. Paul Dean.

Ray had been living in a dormitory this summer and taking classes, but has since moved off campus, Dean said.

Victims have described the burglar as a tall, skinny, white man in his 20s with dark hair.

Police described Ray as a 5-foot-8-inch, 150-pound white man with brown hair and brown eyes.

Ray is listed in the UNH student directory as a sophomore in the college of Engineering and Physical Science.

A woman who identified herself as Ray’s mother declined to comment when she was contacted by a reporter for Foster’s.

AP-ES-08-17-03 1622EDT