Hofstra Students Accused of Rape – Until the Accuser Revealed the Truth

The young female student Danmell Ndonye, a young female student at Hofstra University had accused five young men of gang raping her on the New York campus, but later recanted her story, the New York Daily News reported.

She may now be charged for false accusations and suffer consequences from making up a story that could have ruined the future of the accused young men.

Ndonye told the Nassau County Police her cell phone was taken at a campus party while she was dancing and was lured back to the dorm where 5 young men proceeded to tie her up. They each then took turns engaging in un-consensual sexual activity. She stated this occurred around 3am in the university dorm bathroom.

The police were led to believe that this was a preplanned attack by the boys, setting up the young girl for the crime. They at this point had no reason to believe Ndonye was lying to protect herself from embarrassment of the incident.

The accused men were each charged with five counts of first degree rape and were facing up to 25 years in prison if they were convicted, according to the New York Daily News. They could have lost the chance to live their lives.
After claiming she was raped, Ndonye later changed her story stating that the sex was consensual and that the young men never raped her.

Ndonye took back her story after she learned of a video on a cell phone while she was being questioned by the state prosecutor. It allegedly shows that the sex had been consensual. None of the prosecutors knew during the questioning what exactly was on the video, but the girl ended up changing her story and said the sex was indeed consensual, according to the New York Daily News.

She allegedly told police she had been raped because she was afraid to tell her boyfriend about the incident; quite a big price to pay to keep a relationship together.

The charges against the young men were dropped, but it now appears Ndonye might face criminal charges as well as disciplinary actions from the university for making these false accusations.

Rondell Bedward – one of the male Hofstra students involved – had been suspended after Ndonye’s accusations, but his suspension from the university was lifted after the truth was revealed.

A spokeswoman for the university stated that Ndonye has been suspended until after the school disciplinary hearing scheduled to decide what consequences she will face.

No criminal charges have been pressed nor any civil lawsuits filed at this point, but that does not necessarily mean she will not face any in the future.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Criminal Defense Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.