RAPE SCANDAL ENGULFS UALBANY

Three freshman UAlbany football players were arrested and charged with a first-degree rape that officials said took place early Sunday morning on Indian Quad.

Two of the arrests were made early Monday morning by University Police after the alleged rape was reported to police and Albany County officials. A third arrest was also made Tuesday morning.

Lorenzo Ashbourne, 18, of Smyrna, Ga., and Julius "Jay" Harris, 18, of Riviera Beach, Fla., were charged with the rape and named in the victim's deposition given to police.

Charles Guadagno of Fallston, MD, also 18, was the third man to be arrested.

On Thursday, Ashbourne posted $50,000 bail and was released.

Bail was been set for the other two suspects at $50,000.

The three players, all of whom are scholarship athletes, have been suspended from the university and the football team pending the outcome of the investigation, UAlbany officials said.

The alleged victim, a freshman student at UAlbany, was previously acquainted with those arrested, according to court documents from the arraignment and a statement released by UAlbany.

Officials said the woman is being offered counseling and her parents were notified.

Guilderland Police released the statements last Monday afternoon of both the victim and her suitemate.

In the victim's deposition, she said she had been drinking with friends and attended a fraternity party downtown on the night of the assault.

Later that night the victim said she passed out in Ashbourne's Onondaga Hall room on a couch while watching "American Pie" after both men made sexual advances toward her.

She woke up to Ashbourne attempting to put his penis in her mouth, according to her statement.

After struggling with both Ashbourne and Harris, the victim told police that she passed out again only to wake up to one of the men on top of her, who was kissing and touching her lips and breasts.

The victim said she was raped by both men and a third whom she was unable to identify at the time her statement was made.

The University Police Department is continuing the investigation in conjunction with Albany County District Attorney David Soares's office.

University officials provided little details until later Monday afternoon when Provost Susan Herbst sent an email to students.

"The university's priority is to allow the police to conduct a full and thorough investigation in a timely manner," Herbst said in the statement. "In the meantime, the university is extending support and counseling services to all those affected."

The incident was not brought to the Albany County District Attorney's attention until Sunday night. Immediately following notification a sexual assault unit was dispatched to the campus at 9 p.m. said Rachel McEneny, a spokeswoman for the D.A.

This is not the first rape case at UAlbany this year. At least four cases of sexual assault or rape have occurred on Indian Quad, which predominately houses freshmen and athletes, since Aug. 30, according to the university police crime blotter.

Another case was reported on Dutch Quad earlier this year as well.