Charge dropped against man accused of rape at Disney Springs

Prosecutors dropped a sexual-battery charge Friday against a man who was accused of raping a woman at Disney Springs in July.

Hector M. Herrera, 27, was arrested after Orange County deputies found a woman partially naked in a patch of grass behind the House of Blues.

The woman recently told prosecutors that she no longer wants to testify in the case, state attorney ’s spokeswoman Angela Starke said. Starke said she did not know why.

“This would have been a difficult case to prove without the victim’s testimony, and she informed us that she is no longer willing to cooperate,” Starke said.

When she was found outside the House of Blues at about 5:45 a.m. on July 16, the woman told deputies she had been drinking alcohol and did not remember a large portion of the night, records show.

Herrera was arrested after Orange County deputies released surveillance photos of a man who left the House of Blues with the woman earlier in the night.

Daniel Tumarkin, Herrera’s attorney, said his client was “thrilled” to hear the charges were dropped.

“There are no facts that indicate my client committed a crime,” Tumarkin said Friday. “He should have never been arrested, nor prosecuted.”

Tumarkin filed a motion to dismiss the sexual battery charge in March, claiming that the sexual act had been consensual.