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 Canter 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 answered, "It was terrible. It was terrible."
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, Phillips said.
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."
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The men arrested on the rape charges were Hofstra student Rondell Bedward, 21, Stalin 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 p.m. 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."
Taveras' father, however, was not feeling so 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 police. Hofstra then notified Nassau police. Within hours, the four men were arrested, officials said.
