Four ex-Lincoln U. students await hearing on gang rape charges

Four former Lincoln University students are free on bail awaiting a preliminary hearing next month on charges stemming from a 2006 gang rape, according to court records.

Larry J. Woods, the university's director of public safety and security, said yesterday that the four males were freshmen at the time and were suspended following the alleged assault on a female student. Woods said university police had to wait about a year to obtain all of the DNA evidence, which led to the four arrests during the last two weeks.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled April 30 in Oxford District Court for Eric Goodwin, 20, of Yeadon, Steven "Cali" Jefferson, 20, of Stockton, Calif., Antonio Forbes, 21, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Terrell McDonald, 19, of Coatesville.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman said she had been drinking alcohol with Goodwin and Jefferson in Lincoln's McRary Hall on Nov. 18, 2006, and went to Room 233, which was unoccupied, so she could sleep. She said she remembers people, including Goodwin and Jefferson, entering and leaving the room and did not give anyone permission to have sexual contact with her.

The complaint states that Goodwin told police he had sex with the woman and that when he left the room she was "intoxicated and incoherent."

In a separate interview, Forbes told police he observed "approximately 10 fellow male Lincoln University students standing around the bed inside Room 233." Describing the woman as "passed out and unconscious," Forbes said he observed Jefferson and McDonald having sex with her, the complaint said.

She contacted police the following day and was transported to Brandywine Hospital, where DNA evidence was collected and bruising was reported, the complaint said.

Woods said university police had collaborated with county detectives to ensure that prosecutors had "a solid case" against the defendants.

"Am I confident that we have all the people involved? No, I'm not," he said, adding that the investigation is continuing.