Phillip Calderon, a Binghamton resident who allegedly posed as a Binghamton University student, has been charged with a second Class A misdemeanor ‘ this time for allegedly using a forged BU ID card.

He said he was unaware of the charge, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree, which was filed by Binghamton’s New York State University Police.

Calderon was only aware of the initial charge, which alleged that he misstated his age and claimed to be an undergraduate student at BU.

Earlier this week, he spoke about his involvement in Rainbow Pride Union, a group that advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/ally (LGBTQIA) community on campus.

According to a statement from Calderon, he first wanted to get involved on campus after an anonymous caller harassed a gay student during a segment aired on Binghamton University’s student TV station, BTV, in spring 2008. He said he joined RPU because there was no one advocating for change in the gay community on campus.

‘Nobody wanted to do anything about it,’ Calderon said, referring to the BTV incident. With that, Calderon became a member of BU’s RPU.

He added that he wanted to ‘help the group become something where if there is a similar situation, they have the foundation to take a stand and advocate.’

RPU’s constitution allows for students, faculty and community members to join the club.

But to be director or treasurer of RPU, students must be certified by the Student Association, which is only open to undergraduate students, and according RPU’s constitution, they must have served ‘at least one semester in an active capacity on the E-Board before they can assume the duties of director or assistant director.’

Matthew Rossie, an investigator for Binghamton’s New York State University Police, said that to his knowledge, Calderon had never been a student at BU.

However, Calderon held an executive board position in RPU during spring 2008, and went on to be director the following semester.

Calderon acknowledged that he knew he was ineligible for the position of director.

‘I didn’t meet the criteria of the SA standards, [but] somebody needed to do something,’ Calderon said.

By the fall 2009 semester, Calderon’s involvement on campus had extended to other groups.

He was a student representative on the Assembly of the Student Association. He then held a paid position as an office assistant for executive board members and performed paid work as information technology for the SA. Calderon was also a member of the board of directors of Off Campus College Transport.

During his three years of involvement with the SA, he earned a total of $3,941, according to Adam Shamah, SA vice president for finance.

Giovanni Torres, director of OCCT, said that Calderon’s role with OCCT was largely passive.

‘While he was here, Phil never brought forward any proposals for changes at OCCT,’ Torres said. ‘He only voted on policy proposals which other people presented, so he didn’t have that huge of an impact.’

Calderon declined to comment on his specific involvement in the SA and student groups on campus other than RPU.

Calderon also disputed the claim that he was escorted off BU campus by Binghamton’s New York State University Police.

‘That wasn’t the case,’ Calderon said. ‘I was shown the door, to leave the station,’ after which he walked to the Events Center and took a city bus home, he said.

Calderon attended SUNY Albany for three consecutive semesters from 2005 to 2006. Albany police confirm that he was charged with rape and a misdemeanor of providing alcohol to a minor in January 2008. In response to the charges, he filed a guilty plea for third-degree sexual abuse.

‘Elena Cox co-wrote this report; Rob Bellon, Melissa Bykofsky and Brian Racow contributed to this report