As you read the stomach-churning news stories below, both of which chronicle yet another in a mind-numbing cavalcade of false rape cases, ask yourself this question: aside from rape claims, for what other alleged crime do we so freely hand one class of citizens the power to deprive another class of citizens of their liberty and their good names without provocation, without corroborating evidence, and without due process of law?
A young woman caused four young men, ranging in age from 19 to 21, to be arrested, to have their names tarnished in the news media, to have the anxiety of a long prison stretch hanging over their heads, and to have their reputations destroyed, possibly forever. Any time for the next fifty years that a prospective employer seeks information on one of them, he or she will need only Google their name and find the "facts" of the horrid allegations. Hopefully they will see that it was all a lie, that the woman made a full recantation, and that there is absolutely no evidence that a rape occurred.
The young woman originally said the men raped her; the men said it was consensual, a classic "he said/she said" scenario with competing claims of criminality. Yet only the men were automatically arrested while the woman was wrapped in the garb of victimhood. Their names were splashed all over the news. After she recanted, the prosecutor would not release her name -- because she hadn't been charged with a crime (say what?) -- and because the prosecutors feared for her safety. Never mind the safety of four young men branded with committing what many people think is the worst atrocity aside from murder. In fact, one of the men received a death threat while he was in jail, the New York Post reports (second news account below). That's what happens when men are accused of rape, even if it's false, and their names are splashed all over the news.
By the way, the New York Post identifies the false accuser as 18-year-old Freshman Danmell Ndonye. We will be watching to see what charges are brought against her.
We have handed our young women the keys to the jailhouse cell and have given them licence to destroy the lives of our young men, to deprive them of their liberty and to blacken their good names forever. And if you think that's hyperbole, you need to spend several days reading the true-life accounts on this web site. Someday, likely soon, one or more of the young men in this story will see this post and will learn that there is at least one website that goes to bat for the falsely accused. They will also learn that false rape claims are a very common problem for a lot of young men and some older men. I invite them not to slink back into their lives by putting this out of their minds. I invite them to join the fight, to spread the word, and to tell their stories here and elsewhere.
FIRST STORY:
DA: Hofstra student lied about rape; 4 released
The Hofstra University student who told police that she had been tied up in a college dormitory stall Sunday and gang-raped by five men - one of them a student - told prosecutors late Wednesday that she lied about the incident, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.
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."
The 18-year-old woman made a "full recantation" in an interview with two prosecutors Wednesday evening, and admitted that the encounter had been consensual.
The four men had told police that the sex had been consensual when they were arrested, one law enforcement source said.
Rice said her office has opened an "immediate criminal investigation into the statements and reports given by the woman in connection with this incident."
That investigation will determine whether the woman is charged with a crime, said Eric Phillips, a spokesman for the district attorney.
Phillips said prosecutors are not releasing the woman's name at this time, both because she has not been charged with a crime, and because they fear for her safety.
After hearing the woman had recanted her story, Hofstra Vice President of University Relations Melissa Connolly said Wednesday night, "This week has been a very difficult one for our entire community, and we will need time to heal and understand the events of the last few days."
The men arrested on the rape charges were Hofstra student Rondell Bedward, 21, Felipe, 19, and Jesus L. Ortiz, 19, all of the Bronx; and Taveras.
All had been charged with five counts of first-degree rape.
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."
Taveras' father, however, was not feeling as magnanimous.
"No one from the system had the courtesy to call my house and let me know my son is released," said Ramiro Taveras, 43. "There's no words to describe what me and my family went through for these three days."
The woman had originally told police that she had been dancing with Ortiz at an on-campus party just before 3 a.m. when he grabbed her cell phone from her belt and went outside.
The woman told police she followed Ortiz to a dormitory hallway, where she was confronted by Felipe. The woman said the two men forced her into a men's room toilet stall, tied her up and raped her, police said. She said later the three other men entered the bathroom and raped her, too, police said.
Officials said the woman had immediately reported the incident to campus security. Hofstra then notified Nassau police. Within hours, the four men were arrested, officials said.
Link: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/da-hofstra-student-lied-about-rape-4-released-1.1454571
SECOND STORY:
Suspects freed as co-ed recants tale
By KIERAN CROWLEY, CHRISTINA CARREGA, CANDACE AMOS & TOM LIDDY
Last Updated: 7:47 AM, September 17, 2009
The Hofstra University co-ed who accused a fellow student and four of his pals of gang-raping her in a campus dorm stunningly recanted her claim last night, and the four suspects were sprung from jail just before 10:30 p.m.
"Late [last night] . . . the alleged victim of the sexual assault admitted that the encounter that took place early Sunday morning was consensual," said Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.
"I have launched an immediate criminal investigation into the statements and reports given by the woman in connection with this incident."
"Innocent until proven guilty!" shouted an elated Kevin Taveras, 20, a Cablevision worker from Brentwood, LI, after walking out of jail.
"I'm so happy. I'm glad to be going home."
His 19-year-old stepbrother, Stalin Felipe, who was also accused, said that although he was "very happy the truth came out, I'm still embarrassed."
"We were in jail for over 22 hours, and we had to sit there and see our names on TV blurted out calling me a rapist," he said.
"I have no comment for that girl."
The four were arrested after 18-year-old freshman Danmell Ndonye made her ugly, false accusation. The fifth innocent person she accused was never arrested and his name was not released.
Taveras and Felipe, along with Hofstra senior Rondell Bedward, 21, and Jesus Ortiz, 19, had been charged with first-degree rape. They'd been held in lieu of $500,000 bail each, and faced 25 years in prison if convicted.
At least one of them had received a death threat through his lawyer.
"I got a call from a blocked number saying I should keep my f- - -ing client off the campus. He's a dead man," said Taveras' lawyer, Victor Daly-Rivera.
Taveras, a student at Suffolk Community College, said, "I am very disappointed that she made up all those lies about us, and quite frankly, I don't even know her name."
A source said that surveillance video failed to back up Ndonye's original story.
She had told investigators that at around 3 a.m. Sunday, while at a frat party in an on-campus club at the Hempstead university, Ortiz had taken her cellphone .
She claimed that she followed him and his friends home to retrieve her phone, and rode the elevator with him to the 11th floor of Estabrook Hall.
There, she said, Felipe made advances on her, which she claimed she resisted.
She accused the five men of forcing her into a bathroom stall, tying her up and taking turns sexually assaulting her.
Bedward, in addition to being busted, was banned from campus and suspended.
"I want to let whatever happened in the past be the past, and I am looking forward to getting my life back together," Bedward said through tears last night.
His birthday is Saturday.
His furious mom, Mae Edwards, said, "He was wrongly accused by that young lady, who almost destroyed his life."
She said she hopes to "file charges. He almost had his degree taken away."
Bedward, a Bronx native, is a speech-communication and rhetorical-studies major who graduated from the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice in 2006.
Ortiz and Bedward adamantly denied having sex with Ndonye.
"I was so embarrassed and I am so upset," Ortiz said. "I have a great girlfriend at home. Why would I do something like this to another person?"
Fellow students were outraged at Ndonye.
"This is ridiculous," said senior Cyassandra Frith, 21.
"She should be charged -- she destroyed four people's lives."
Felipe, who is also a college student, was just looking forward to going home and taking a shower.
"It feels good to be out," he said.
Ndonye's relatives had security guards at their building shoo away reporters.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Lukas I. Alpert
kieran.crowley@nypost.com
Link: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/suspects_freed_as_co_ed_recants_7m7ryFfi3H9iKxqacO6b3O
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22 comments:
The New York Post story above is nice, but look what they printed last Tuesday -- and tell me how come the cops and the news media AUTOMATICALLY take the word of a lone accuser over the denials of four young men? This is among the more disgusting stories, in retrospect -- because when readers read a major daily, they expect the reporters to be reporting facts. The references to the "victim" and the "shocking attack" are appalling in retrospect. What, does the Post just parrot what the cops tell them? And do the cops just parrot what an alleged victim tells THEM? Sickening. Absolutely sickening:
New York Post Story Sept. 15 2009: Nightmare gang rape at Hofstra
By Kieran Crowley and Tim Perone
Last Updated: 5:42 PM, September 15, 2009
Posted: 5:06 AM, September 15, 2009
An 18-year-old Hofstra University co-ed was gang-raped by five men on campus, cops said last night.
The shocking attack took place Sunday at around 3 a.m.
Cops would not say whether the victim knew any of the men beforehand or where on the sprawling Hempstead, LI, campus she was assaulted.
Rondell Bedward, 21, of The Bronx, is the only suspect who attends the school.
Nassau County cops also arrested Jesus Ortiz, 19 and Stalin Felipe, 19, both also from The Bronx, as well as Kevin Taveras, 20, of Brentwood, LI.
They were all charged with rape, while Ortiz and Felipe were hit with additional counts of attempted criminal sexual act.
Ortiz was also charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing the victim's cellphone.
Bedward and Ortiz were arraigned yesterday. Felipe and Taveras are set to be arraigned today.
Cops were still searching for the fifth suspect.
Oh, and there's this, too:
The New York Post Can't Resist Showing Mug Shots of the Four Men Accused of Rape
Look at the utter fear on the face of the second young man. 19-years-old, arrested for a terrible crime he didn't commit. I am sick to my stomach.
Yes, that is what media does. Drama seeking SOBs. With my husband, they put his mug shot front and center with a horrible story filled with lies about his attack on this woman.
I actually called the paper and told them about the lies. Of course they did not do a retraction.
500k bond for a crime he did not commit. Still in jail 11 weeks later!
INjustice system at it's finest!!!!
CB
That's what the criminal justice-entertainment system always does. The "victim" and her credibility remain hidden from the public and are vouched for by the state and the media and their credibility. "Freedom of the press" has become a joke, since the press almost invariably just acts as an arm of the state.
Pierce Harlan - "The New York Post story above is nice, but look what they printed last Tuesday -- and tell me how come the cops and the news media AUTOMATICALLY take the word of a lone accuser over the denials of four young men?"
The way in which stories about violent rapes are given makes it very easy to simply fall into believing that they had, in fact, occurred.
As one who is very well aware of the plague of false rape allegations, I must admit that I, myself, when I first saw the headline (on Drudge), fell into the trap of believing that the alleges rape had likely happened. [although, I will point out that I was on vacation, and not really following the news, nor giving proper consideration to the headlines I did catch].
My thoughts at the time concerned the way in which I expected the usual trolls to try to twist this one incident into their typical arguments as to why we needn't be concerned over false rape allegations.
To browser over to this site and read that there had been a recantation first elate me, then humbled me as I realized I had been taken in, and had believed the news account [unlike the majority, I should definitely have known better].
Now, I suppose that we will never be given any more details as to why she did it (as the whole thing will be swept under the rug ASAP by the media); but, it does appear to be yet another case of a woman using a rape claim to try to salvage her reputation.
She was likely all to eager for some hot group sex - then she got to thinking about her precious reputation afterwards. What to do? Ah! claim it was a gang-rape. Just a little "white-lie" for the greater purpose of exonerating herself of her behavior. Damn typical, anymore.
slwerner, I think almost everyone, reading that story, assumed a rape had occurred. Astounding. They call this journalism? With editorial standards?
I want to know what evidence the New York Post had aside from the say-so of a lone teen female accuser? And why on earth is she believed over the word of four young men? And are we right back to the old "women don't lie about rape canard"?
The face of fear
The NY Post took down the mugshots of the falsely accused men. A reader at reddit mensrights found this.
I have just one word....fear.
No, I have two words....justice!
No, I have three words....jail!
This false accuser must be jailed!
One girl, four guys -- who do the scumbags believe? The one girl. You would think that you would give the four boys the edge on credibility -- just imagine automatically taking the word of one man over four women who had claimed to be raped.
There was never any reason to believe the liar, but the system (including the media) will always pretend that nothing wrong occurred here. We are dealing with the systemized persecution of males.
There is never any excuse for just taking her word for it. The legal system must stop driving while blind.
Get this! I was reading some follow-up articles when i came upon this gem:
""There's definitely an apology that needs to be in there," said freshman India Nelson. "But a crime? Probably not." "
(Hofstra Suspends Student Who Made Up Rape Story)
An apology - for having four men arrested, their names and faces splashed all over by the MSM, and one even losing his job!
Yeah, right! and apology should just about set things right.[/snark]
From the article linked in my previous post:
"The bombshell admission came late Wednesday night when Ndoye told two prosecutors that she had lied about the encounter. Instead, she admitted the sexual encounter had been entirely consensual, something the four men had claimed all along."
Finally, after a string of stunning failures that had to be reported on, I finally have another example of prosecutors coming through and getting it right.
Plus, the university not only lifted the falsely accused students suspension (which should not have been done until the investigation had been completed, BTW), they also suspended the liar No need to wait for further investigation since she's admitted that it was a consensual gang-bang, not a rape; and to having lied - the facts ARE in!).
Excellent find, slwerner. Here's an excerpt:
At Hofstra on Thursday, lots of students were asking questions, like why Ndoye would make up the story of being gang-raped and whether she should be charged with a crime.
"I'm not sure she should be charged with a crime, but she should be charged with something. She freaked out the whole campus," said freshman Amelia Yu. "It's not right for her to lie about them."
"There's definitely an apology that needs to be in there," said freshman India Nelson. "But a crime? Probably not."
Hofstra officials have not said if Ndoye will face disciplinary action.
AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TELLS US WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS FALSE RAPE CULTURE. KEEPING YOUR PENIS IN A GIRL FOR FIVE SECONDS AFTER SHE SAYS "STOP" IS RAPE AND WILL SEND A BOY TO PRISON FOR MANY YEARS. DESTROYING FOUR LIVES IS "PROBABLY" NOT A CRIME. WHAT IN HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE WOMEN WHO THINK LIKE THAT?!!!!
Is there any kind of petition out there to have us sign to have these crooks (the false accusers) prosecuted as felons?
If not, we should definately start one.
I am sick of this kind of trash destroying our husbands, boyfriends, sons, etc lives.
What about civil rights? What about the time lost in jail while waiting for trial?
CB (I am a woman)
Why would she make up such a story?
Chrystal K, what do you think about Prof. Kanin's three primary reasons for false rape claims? Do you agree with them?
Why does Crystal K. post the same stupid comment on every thread? The liars lie because they are liars. They don't need a reason. You know that.
It has to do with power Chrystal K. Some women do it cuz they can and want to prove to the man they are f***ing with that they are in control. Then they laugh about it. They are deviants!!!!!!
They find joy in destroying innocent lives..families..careers..marriages. They just want to 'win'.
CB(the woman)
slwerner said...
Get this! I was reading some follow-up articles when i came upon this gem:
""There's definitely an apology that needs to be in there," said freshman India Nelson. "But a crime? Probably not." "
Sounds like something one of the trolls has said on this site.
Anonymous said...
One girl, four guys -- who do the scumbags believe? The one girl. You would think that you would give the four boys the edge on credibility -- just imagine automatically taking the word of one man over four women who had claimed to be raped.
There was never any reason to believe the liar, but the system (including the media) will always pretend that nothing wrong occurred here. We are dealing with the systemized persecution of males.
" We are dealing with the systemized persecution of males "
IMHO, we are not only dealing with the systematic persecution of males, we HAVE BEEN dealing with the systematic persecution of males for decades,centuries even.
She said it was rape, they said it was consensual. The obvious solution is that the young men need to learn self control and keep their peckers in their pants. Any man who has sex with a woman not his wife is taking a terrible risk, because a fornicating whore has no morals.
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