Hofstra Gang Rape Victim Admits Sexual Encounter was Consensual

Police say that the 18-year-old Hofstra University student who says she was gang raped by five men in a campus dorm has admitted that the sex was consensual. The four men who were arrested and each charged with five counts of first-degree rape are to be released from police custody. Last night, the criminal charges against them were dropped.

The alleged victim had said that suspect Jesus Ortiz, 19, asked her to dance and took her cellular phone from her. He then allegedly used the phone to get her to accompany him to the Easterbrook dorm where Rondell Bedward, another Hofstra student, met them. Bedward allegedly had a rope with him.

The woman accused the men of making her go into a stall and forcing her to engage in sexual activity. She said that three other men raped her before she was set free.

Bedward is the only one of the four suspects who studies at Hofstra University. Police say that he was the one who invited the other suspects to the dormitory and, per dorm protocol, all of them were signed in.

The other two men who were arrested and arraigned for the college campus crime are Kevin Taveras, 20, and Stalin Felipe, 19. Police had been looking for the fifth alleged rapist.

Meantime, in another university-related crime, police continue to investigate the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le. The 24-year-old pharmacology student’s body was discovered on Sunday, which was supposed to be her wedding day, in the basement wall of a medical research building located off-campus.

Video surveillance footage shows her going into a lab located some 10 blocks from campus. The medical examiner’s office announced today that Le was strangled.

Raymond Clark, a Yale employee, was released from custody after providing authorities with DNA samples. The 24-year-old employee was brought in after police got a search warrant for his residence and a body warrant for the samples.

Over 150 people have been interviewed. Some 150 pieces of evidence have been collected. Police don’t believe that Le’s murder was a random act.

Hofstra Student Admits She Lied About Gang Rape, Long Island Press, September 16, 2009
Four Men Arrested, Fifth Sought in Connection With Rape of Hofstra University Student, Fox News, September 15, 2009
Yale student strangled, medical examiner’s office says, CNN.com, September 16, 2009

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