Resident Charged In Duke Rape Case

Collin Finnerty, a 19-year-old Garden City resident and graduate of Chaminade High School who attends Duke University in Durham, NC, was charged on Tuesday in the rape and beating of a 27-year-old woman at an off-campus party. Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, NJ was also charged.

The men were arrested on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree kidnapping. They were released on $400,000 bonds after appearing before a magistrate and are expected to return to court on May 15.

The 27-year-old victim, a single mother of two and a student at a nearby university, is black. She alleges she was hired to dance at a party on March 13 and was attacked by three white lacrosse players. The party was held at an off-campus house rented by three captains of the Duke lacrosse team.

Defense attorneys said they plan to reveal evidence that proves both men are innocent and were not at the scene during the alleged half-hour assault. Media reports Thursday said that time-stamped digital photos exist which show that the victim did not appear to be distraught when she left the house that night. According to those reports, neither suspect was seen in any of the photographs.

DNA samples were taken from all but one member of the team and, according to defense attorneys, none of the players' genetic material was found on the dancer. Additionally, Seligmann's attorney said that his client has receipts showing he was elsewhere during the attack.

Finnerty and Seligmann, sophomores who played on the nationally ranked Duke lacrosse team, were suspended from the university on Tuesday. The university issues interim suspensions when students are charged with felonies, according to a statement released by Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. The university also decided to cancel the men's lacrosse season on April 5th.

This is not Finnerty's first brush with the law. In November, he was arrested and charged with assaulting a man in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. Finnerty and two former high school teammates were arrested for allegedly striking a man, according to court records, "in the face and body, because he told them to stop calling him gay and other derogatory names."

He entered a diversion program, and could have the charges against him dismissed upon completion of 25 hours of community service and if he stayed out of trouble. It is expected that lawyers will discuss the assault case, and perhaps how the rape charges may affect it, at a previously scheduled hearing in Washington on April 25.

On Tuesday, news crews could be seen congregating outside the Finnerty home on Carteret Place in Garden City, as several neighbors hung yellow ribbons on trees in support of the family.

Four members of the Duke lacrosse team are from Garden City.