Remember this story about the teenager accused of raping a 17 year old girl during a concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield MA this summer while onlookers shot cellphone video? The Sun Chronicle is reporting that the charges have been dropped.
Sean Murphy, 18, of Boston, was arrested for allegedly raping the girl in the lawn section during the Keith Urban “Raise ‘Em Up” country music concert July 26. He had been free on $10,000 cash bail.
Assistant District Attorney Mary-Elizabeth Mack told Attleboro District Court Judge Daniel O’Shea that prosecutors were dropping the case after “extensive” conversations with the accuser and that the girl agreed with the decision.
The quick resolution to the case came after the defense obtained statements from 15 to 20 individuals who came forward to say they witnessed the incident after the case was widely publicized, Murphy’s lawyers said.
“What we thought all along has been borne out. It was a consensual act,” Dedham defense lawyer Neil Crowley said. “No crime was committed.”
Murphy was allegedly on top of the victim on the lawn at the Xfinity Center as bystanders took photos and videos of the alleged assault on their cellphones. Another female concertgoer pushed Murphy off the victim, before running into the crowd, according to police. The girl told the concert goer and later the police that she did not consent to having sex.
Defense lawyers hired a private investigator to look into the case. “Thankfully people came forward and stepped up and said what they saw happened,” Steven Brooks, a lawyer on the case, said.
There were other problems that evening. This incident took place at a concert that had already made headlines for “Alcohol-related issues” that sent 22 fans to the hospital and 50 into protective custody.
