Two men faced a judge Wednesday after authorities say they raped a woman, who is eight months pregnant, at a Johnson & Wales University off-campus housing facility in North Miami during an arranged photo session.
Ligunson Edmond and Jacques Davis Jean, both 21, are facing sexual battery charges in the Dec. 22 incident. Authorities are searching for a third suspect.
The victim, who is married, told NBC Miami that the unborn baby is OK, and so is she physically. She added that she didn't know the defendants, and the North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre said it was an arranged photo session. But the details weren't clear.
The two men were in bond court Wednesday where they were ordered held on $25,000 bond each.
According to a North Miami Police arrest report, Edmond, Jean, the 21-year-old woman and another man were at Edmond's home in the 1735 Northeast 124th Street, which is off-campus housing, when the attack occurred.
The victim told police she went to the bathroom to urinate and Jean and a second man entered the bathroom and forced her to have sex with them, the arrest report said. Edmond then entered the bathroom and also did the same, which he later admitted to police, the report said.
During Wednesday's court appearance, Edmond and Jean both denied knowing the woman.
"I don't know her sir," Jean told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch.
Edmond and Jean were arrested Tuesday. They were both appointed public defenders and will have an arraignment on Jan. 21.
"Within the last few days, the North Miami Police Department notified the university of allegations of a sexual assault. The university has assisted North Miami Police in this ongoing investigation. The allegations made are deeply troubling to our campus community and we will continue to offer our assistance as this investigation continues," Loreen Chant, president of the university's North Miami campus, said in an email statement.
The address where the alleged incident took place is next door to campus security headquarters.
Police have also taken surveillance video from the building.
