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Bodega surveillance video footage showing some of the suspects accused in the Jan. 7 rape of an 18-year-old woman.
NY 1 Screenshot
Five teenage defendants who arrested and charged as adults for the reported rape of an 18-year-old in a Brooklyn park have been released from prison.
“Because we are determined to get to the truth about what happened in that park, we need more time to investigate this complex case and gather more evidence,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson who agreed to the teenager’s release on Thursday told the New York Daily News. “Therefore, we have consented to the defendants’ release.”
Defendants—Travis Beckford, 17; Onandi Brown, 17; Ethan Phillip, 15; Shaquelle Cooper, 15; and Denzel Murray, 14, were released Thursday if they hadn’t already posted bail.
“Mr. Thompson did a very decent thing by calling and agreeing to have him cut from prison before the family put a bail package together,” defendant Onandi Brown’s lawyer, Spencer Leeds told the Daily News.
“We believe after a full and fair investigation is complete, Onandi will be exonerated.”
According to the Daily News, the five teens were charged with the rape and assault on Jan. 7 after the teen’s father claimed that he and his daughter where in Brownsville’s Osborn playground when the young men approached and order the father to leave. The father claimed that he left briefly and returned to find the men assaulting his daughter. He claimed that one of the men threatened him with a gun if he didn’t leave the area. The father reportedly waved down an officer and reported the attack. The teens were arrested shortly after the horrid details of the story were released.
The teens told police a different story claiming that the sex they had with the young lady was consensual. The teens also claimed that when they encountered the man in the park, he was having sex with his daughter.
News of the teens release comes just a day after it was reported that police obtained warrants to search the teen’s cellphone, which reportedly showed the boys and the young woman moments before the alleged attack.
“The first story is never the last story,” New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton Bratton told the Daily News. “I think in this case that’s certainly the case or will prove to be the case.”
Bratton would not elaborate on how the initial story might change but added that the police were investigating a “significant” piece of cellphone footage taken from one of the teen’s phones.
“It’s 9 to 11 seconds I believe it’s been retrieved from one of the cell phones of the young men being investigated in this matter,” he said. “It is a significant piece of evidence as we try to piece together what happened.”
Relatives of the teens told the Daily News that the video footage shows that the sex was consensual.
Bratton added that he has been in contact with Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson and will continue investigating the case until all the facts are come out.
“I spoke at length with Ken yesterday as that case is going forward so we’ll just have to wait over the next several days as the interviews continue and they try to put together exactly what happened,” he said.
One of the suspects, Travis Beckford’s lawyer, Debbie Silberman, told the Daily News on Wednesday that the case is unraveling.
“The prosecution’s case is getting weaker, not stronger,” Silberman said.
Read more at the New York Daily News.
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