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Three California men accused of the brutal gang rape of a visiting college student at the Fontainebleau resort on Miami Beach will be allowed to walk free without facing trial. The state attorney’s office has dropped all charges, reportedly due to lack of evidence.
Paul Thorington, Anthony Albano, and Ray Joseph Laranjo, all 23, were visiting Miami Beach from California during the hard partying week of Ultra Music Festival parties in late March. The three were alleged to have meet a visiting female college student at the Cadenza Luciano and Carl Craig-headlined pool party at the Shelborne hotel. The victim told police that the men agreed to let her store her purse at their room at the Fontainebleau resort, 26 blocks away. She told police after she arrived in the room the men held her down and took turns raping her.
“They were kind of taking turns on me, and somebody let my leg go, and I kicked him in the chest, and he backed up, and the other guy let go of my arm and they all started laughing at me,” the unnamed victim told police, “And I grabbed all my stuff and ran into the elevator, and there were two girls in there and they asked me if I was OK, and I was already crying and everything. They took me to the front desk.”
All three men were allowed to return to California but have been held under house arrest.
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NBC Miami reports that now all charges have been dropped, with Laranjo telling the site that there was a lack of evidence.
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