HORNETS' MASON CHARGED WITH STATUTORY RAPE.Byline: Associated Press Anthony Mason of the Charlotte Hornets was charged with statutory rape and sexual abuse Sunday following accusations he and a cousin had sex with 14- and 15-year-old sisters. Mason and his cousin, William Duggins of Queens, N.Y., were freed on bail after Mason posted $20,000 - a figure set by Judge Steven Paynter based on the 31-year-old forward's disorderly conduct disorderly conduct n. 1) actions that disturb others. 2) minor criminal offenses, such as public drunkenness, loitering, disturbing the peace, and loud threats or parties. conviction last fall - and Duggins put up $3,500. Mason's lawyer, Frank Rothman, said the former New York Knick was the victim of a setup. He also said Mason would appear at his next court date, set for March 9. ``If you have a satellite dish, you can see him three nights a week on television. Where is he going to go?'' asked Rothman. Duggins was arrested once on a minor charge and is an unemployed construction worker, according to his lawyer, Edward M. Kratt. Paynter ordered the cousins not to contact one another. Both lawyers said their clients offered to give blood samples for DNA tests to prove their innocence after Assistant District Attorney Scott Kessler said detectives were holding bedding from the alleged attack. The offer was not accepted. The prosecutor also said that both men knew the girls' ages when they first met on Friday night. Rothman said Sunday he has ``a neutral witness to shatter allegations'' that the girls were attacked by his client, and that Mason ``did not have sex with these girls, oral or otherwise.'' The Hornets forward ``totally, categorically, completely denies he did anything wrong,'' Mason's agent, Don Cronson, told reporters outside the courthouse prior to the arraignment arraignment n. the hearing in which a person charged with a crime is arraigned in his or her first appearance before a judge. This is the first appearance of a criminal defendant (unless continued from earlier time) in which all the preliminaries are taken care of. (See: arraign). He said Mason had asked him about the NBA All-Star game and was ``getting ready to go home.'' Cronson also said Mason was receiving many calls of support, including some from Charlotte. Before the arraignment, Deputy Chief Jane Perlov, chief of Queens detectives, told a news conference the two men and the girls met during a benefit basketball game at York College York College: see New York, City University of. in Queens on Friday night, then drove to Duggins' home in Laurelton, Queens. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Anthony Mason was freed after posting $20,000 bail. Associated Press |
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