MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Charges against two Swedish businessmen accused of sexually abusing a woman at the W Hotel in Midtown have been dismissed, prosecutors said Friday.
Jens Saltin, 31, and Niklas Adalberth, 30, were cleared of the felony sex charges stemming from the alleged attack on Feb. 4.
“After conducting a thorough investigation that included, but was not limited to, interviewing relevant witnesses, viewing surveillance video and other hotel records and speaking extensively with the complainant we have concluded that we cannot prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” Assistant District Attorney David Smith said during the brief court appearance.
The 19-year-old woman claimed Adalberth allegedly straddled the victim and fondled her breasts while Saltin undressed her inside a suite at the Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street hotel.
Attorneys for the men, Benjamin Brafman and Michael Bachner, called the claim false and said their clients would be returning to Sweden to resume their lives.
"We have maintained from the outset that this case was based on a single, false and entirely baseless allegation that was not corroborated by any forensic, scientific, video or other witness testimony," they said in a statement. "Simply put, these two men with impeccable backgrounds did nothing wrong, did not violate the law and should never have been arrested in the first place."
Both men had been freed on $10,000 bail after their arrests.
