THE ORANGE STATE ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

Woman’s accusation came after ‘New Years in July’ party

drops sexual battery charges against two UCF students because of insufficient evidence.

Two men arrested on rape charges after a University of Central Florida fraternity party won’t be prosecuted, and the Greek organization that hosted the event where the incident took place is back in good standing.

That means the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity is again allowed to have parties and other social activities.

Sexual battery and kidnap or false imprisonment charges against Antonio Camargos Ortiz Candido, 21, and Alexander Emilio Garces, 22, were dropped in late December.

A spokeswoman for the Orange State Attorney’s Office said that the charges were dropped because the evidence was insufficient to prove the accusations.

Alpha Tau Omega was suspended for about two weeks immediately after the “New Years in July” party, where a woman reported being raped. The school also accused the fraternity of several other violations, including disruptive conduct, underage drinking and failing to take steps to prevent underage drinking on its property.

The fraternity agreed not to have any social events during the fall 2017 semester, but during a hearing in December, the student conduct board determined the fraternity should not face further action.

Garces’ attorney, Jordan Ostroff, said his client was the fraternity’s risk management officer, a responsibility that required him to be sober for the party. To prepare for the event, the fraternity had to arrange for security and draw up a plan to prevent underage drinking.

He said his client passed a lie-detector test during which he said nothing non-consensual happened that night.

Garces, still a student, is allowed to attend classes at UCF, Ostroff said, but the university has not decided whether to pursue disciplinary action.

The accusations against Candido are false, said his attorney, Lyle Mazin.

“Simply because someone said something happened doesn’t make it so,” he said.

Mazin said he thinks Candido is a “solid young man.”

On Aug. 4, the woman told police she was raped in a second-floor bedroom at the ATO house in July.

He graduated before the incident occurred and has since moved out of the area.

On Aug. 4, the woman told police she was raped in a second-floor bedroom at the ATO house in July. Security footage shows her leaving the house on the night of the incident with the two men.

She told police that Garces, who was her friend, grabbed her hair and pulled her to the ground. She thought that meant he wanted her to give him oral sex, and she did, though she said he became “aggressive” and she pulled away. He left the room after she punched him in the ribs, the woman said. After that, the woman said, Candido raped her. She eventually ran from the room.

The allegations came amid a national conversation about what type of role Greek organizations should play in college life.

Also last summer, another UCF fraternity, Lambda Theta Phi, was suspended after someone told the university that a fraternity member had sex with a woman who was too drunk to consent during a party. That fraternity was placed on probation for the fall 2017 semester but is back in good standing with the university as well.

In December, the councils that oversee Greek life at UCF decided fraternities and sororities won’t hold social activities or any events with drinking for at least the first six weeks of the spring semester, up from the two-week ban on alcohol that had been in place in the past.

Alpha Tau Omega has been disciplined several times in the past five years. In 2012, UCF suspended the fraternity after it was accused of forcing a pledge to stand in an ice bucket while fraternity members beat him.

A year later, the fraternity was suspended again after holding the same “New Year’s in July Party.” Police said they found people passed out on the lawn, including one lying in his own vomit, along with underage students drinking.

Two UCF Greek organizations remain suspended after facing hazing and alcohol-related accusations. Beta Theta Pi was suspended in November after a student’s mother said her son and other pledges were forced to drink alcohol and perform tasks, including cleaning the house and providing rides for the members and their girlfriends.

A sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, was also suspended in November. UCF is investigating allegations that members ordered shots for underage pledges and urged them to “chug” mimosas at an off-campus bar.