Hofstra Student Lied About Rape - Suspects Cleared

The headline was brutal and grabbed national attention. A female Hofstra University student reported being lured to a bathroom stall, restrained by her wrists, and gang raped by five men; one of them a fellow student. Four of the five suspects were quickly rounded up and arrested. But they all claimed their innocence and protested that the sex was consensual.

They were telling the truth. Late Wednesday night, the accuser fully recanted her accusations and the suspects were cleared of all charges. According to Newsday:

After hearing the news, prosecutors convened a late-night court hearing at First District Court in Hempstead, where Judge Robert Bruno signed an order dismissing the charges against the four men in the case, Rice said.

They were released a short time later from Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow and were greeted by family members who embraced them, laughing and weeping with joy. "I'm happy," said Kevin Taveras, 20, of Brentwood, as he walked from the jail. "I just want to go home now." Asked what the past few days have been like, Taveras, who works for Cablevision, Newsday's parent company, said, "It was terrible. It was terrible. I feel like our names were tarnished. But maybe with all the news out, people will see we're not rapers."

In a phone conversation late Wednesday night, Stalin Felipe, 19, another of the accused, said he was relieved. "I'm feeling great right now," said Felipe, who was with his sister, Carol Felipe, and Taveras at a relative's home in Brentwood. "Me and [Taveras] were smiling. We couldn't believe this was true. I thought it was a dream, a pretty good one." Source: DA: Hofstra Student Lied about Rape, Newsday

What a nightmare. I appreciate that this young woman finally told the truth. And it's easy to presume that her sexual behavior, with relative strangers, is symptomatic of deep emotional distress. Nonetheless, there must be significant consequences for crying rape when there is none.

Personally, I'm beating myself up a little bit because of how easy I found it to believe the accuser's story. I regret that didn't notice, until now, that in the press coverage of this story, the word "alleged" was hard to find. Theoretically, we are all innocent until proven guilty. But when I first read this story I thought of "Dunbar Village" not of the "Duke rape case". These young men now have to get past having their names blasted out in connection to this crime. After all, we will have to see if the story about the lie gets as much press as the original charges.

Outside the jail just before 11 Wednesday night, Felipe said he wants to move on. "I don't even have any hard feelings," he said. "I am happy to be alive. To be a caged animal when you are not guilty is the worst." But he added, "I'm 19. I have my whole life in front of me, and suddenly it was all over. I was facing 5 to 25 years in jail."

As for what he's going to do next, Taveras was concerned about his job. "I'm going to try to get my job back. HR called me and left a message, but I never got it because I was locked up." Despite what happened, Taveras felt concerned for his accuser. "I don't know why she said what she did say. I hope she doesn't go through what we went through." Source: Newsday

What did YOU think when you first heard this story? What do YOU think should happen to the accuser?