Seamus Morrissey, 19, of White River Junction, Vt., pleaded guilty Wednesday to two charges of attacking Dartmouth students.
The two attacks occurred on different nights in November near the Hopkins Center. In each case, a group of young men were responsible for the attack.
Morrissey, who was fined $600, assaulted one male Dartmouth student "by tackling him from behind, knocking him to the ground and kicking him several times in the back of the head," according to a court document.
A different document said Morrissey attacked the other student "by knocking him to the ground with a shoulder tackle and repeatedly kicking him in the back and about the back of his head."
Richard McEwan, 19, of Windsor, Vt. was also arrested for simple assault. He will be arraigned in Hanover District Court May 22.
Three other suspects are still at large.
Hanover Police Detective Sergeant Frank Moran said two of the suspects, a juvenile and an adult, seem to have fled the area.
"They were living in Vermont and appear to have left the state," he said. "We're trying to locate them. I am hopeful."
On Wednesday the judge reduced Morrissey's charge from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B one, because he cooperated with the police and said he intends to change his life, Moran said.
Moran said Morrissey's testimony will be helpful in the other suspects' trials.
"He is an important witness to the prosecution as a whole," Moran said. "We have five people who will be charged when we get them all arrested."
Morrissey plans to join the Air Force this summer, Moran said.
"We'd rather see him in the Air Force than in jail," he said.
Police learned of Morrissey's involvement in the crime when they questioned a different young man not involved in the incident, according to Morrissey's arrest warrant.
The two Dartmouth students both identified Morrissey as their attacker from among a line-up of people who resembled him, the warrant states.
One of the students who was attacked said he does not believe his attacker's punishment fits the crime. But he said he is glad Morrissey was apprehended.
"I think it is important that they caught whoever did it so other people don't do it again," he said.
