NY- Rape accusation 'traumatizing,' former suspect says

9-18-2009 New York:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four young men falsely accused of raping an 18-year-old student at Hofstra University were trying to return to their normal lives Friday after an ordeal that two of them described as traumatic.

I was really scared. I couldn't believe what was basically going through my mind. It was like a big nightmare, and I thought I was going to do time for something I didn't do," 20-year-old Kevin Taveras said on HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell."

"It was devastating," he said. "I was there just letting the clock tick and tick."

Authorities dropped charges and freed the four men hours after their accuser changed her story about having been forcibly tied up and sexually assaulted in a dormitory bathroom.

"The woman admitted the encounters with each of the men were consensual," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told reporters.

The woman recanted her story after authorities told her that part of the incident was recorded on a cell phone video, Rice said.

"That was when she began to tell the truth," Rice said.

Authorities have not released the accuser's name.

"I believe that it is a question of potential safety for her, and the investigation is ongoing," Rice said.

It is against the law to report a crime when there was not one, Rice said. Authorities gave no indication whether the woman may face charges.

"Her actions and her demeanor depict a very troubled young woman in need of much help," Rice said.

Hofstra University has suspended her pending hearings into the matter.

Only one of the four accused is a Hofstra student. He has been allowed to return to campus. None has publicly described what happened that night.

CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York spoke with another of the accused, Stan Felipe.

"We respect women," he said. "We know how to treat a lady. The thing they said with the rope? Come on. That's disgusting. That's what we were looked at as: disgusting men."

"It did traumatize us," Felipe said. "I'm just happy to be home finally."

Taveras also spoke with WABC.

"It was traumatizing," he told the station. "It's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."

He added, "We were treated like animals."

They thought they might go to prison for 25 years for something they didn't do, Taveras said.

His mother felt as though "she was imprisoned with me," Taveras told HLN. "My whole family was imprisoned because of this."

Taveras' attorney had sharp criticism for police in the case.

"They paraded their photos in front of the media. They held this press conference. They released all these terrible details about this alleged rape that never took place. And you know, they went off half-cocked, basically," Victor Daly-Rivera said.

Sgt. Anthony Repalone, spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department, told CNN on Friday that the department had no comment. ..Source.. by CNN.com