Update, 2:03 p.m. on Friday, November 15:

While Penn State initially did not respond to two requests for comment from Onward State, a university spokesperson provided a statement to Onward State on Friday.

“The University is aware of the charges against Matthew Parkinson, and he is on administrative leave. As this is a personnel matter, we have no further comment,” the spokesperson said.

Original story:

A Penn State professor has been accused of stalking and harassment from incidents dating back 14 years. Matthew Parkinson, who teaches in the College of Engineering and is listed in the Penn State directory, faces one count of stalking and three counts of harassment.

Parkinson, according to an affidavit, repeatedly followed the victim at her former place of work, sent her emails, and harassed the victim and her family over a 14-year period.

From 2015 to 2022, Parkinson persistently walked the victim to work without the victim asking, with Parkinson calling the incidents “an intentional detour.” Parkinson also emailed the victim and attempted to talk to the victim’s husband about their “sex lives” amid other incidents the victim described as “creepy.”

In that same time period, according to police, the victim’s general manager at her place of work observed Parkinson lurking around the victim’s car repeatedly. At one point, Parkinson admitted to tampering with the victim’s car, saying he wanted to leave a snack or note.

Beginning in 2022, Parkinson’s encounters with the victims increased. From April to mid-September 2022, the victim said she had at least two encounters a week with Parkinson. Parkinson also emailed the victim on days he did not see her and frequently offered to see her on her lunch breaks.

The victim, at this point, began changing her commute schedule and when she took her lunch break, according to the affidavit. The victim also began taking lunch breaks with male coworkers, which Parkinson took offense to.

In August 2022, according to police, Parkinson was “hovering around” her place of work four times in three shifts at the start of the new Penn State semester. The victim described the incidents as “psychological abuse.”

Parkinson sent the victim two emails in September 2023, according to the affidavit, telling the victim that he missed her. After the victim’s husband confronted him, Parkinson emailed the victim to say that he didn’t understand what he did wrong.

The victim told police she left her job at her place of work to get away from Parkinson “for good,” according to the affidavit.

From 2022 to 2023, Parkinson would text the victim’s husband “strange things,” according to the affidavit. At one point, Parkinson said, “I haven’t really experienced a break-up before, now I know what all the songs are about.”

In March 2023, Parkinson again emailed the victim to attempt to meet and talk, according to police. In December 2023, Parkinson contacted one of the victim’s sons, despite being told not to contact the victim’s children. In June 2024, Parkinson contacted the victim’s daughter at a church camp, which the victim said made her daughter uncomfortable.

Police spoke with one of the victim’s former coworkers at her place of work, who confirmed what the victim told the police, according to the affidavit.

Penn State did not respond to two requests for comment from Onward State on Parkinson’s case.