JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (Note: The video above is from a previous related report.)
A 21-year-old University of North Florida student arrested Friday in three alleged rape cases was already in federal custody after the school revoked his student visa.
Mateo Borda Boyanovich, 21, was previously arrested in February, after prosecutors say he made a social media post threatening a mass shooting at a fraternity event on the University Green. According to his attorney, he was immediately suspended by the school and therefore lost his student visa.
Borda Boyanovitch, who is from Peru, has no legal status without the visa, so was being held at the federal Immigration and Customs Detention Center in Baker County until his transfer to the Duval County Jail.
The recent sexual assault charges stem from allegations from three women. One dates from August 2020 and the other two are from the same period in November 2021. According to his attorney, Curtis Falgatter, police investigated the 2020 incident and did not file charges at that time.
“There are three gals. One involves allegations from a year and a half ago that were investigated and police did nothing about it because they knew the allegations were frivolous,” Falgatter told First Coast News. “But two more girls claimed to have had sex with him the exact same night and the exact same location even though he was with this girlfriend at the time.”
All three sexual assaults are alleged to have occurred at Borda Boyanovitch’s home in East Arlington, which he shared with other men.
The two 2021 cases were reported to police after Borda Boyanovitch’s February arrest.
UNF has not posted any information about the arrest to its website, and it is not clear if the women involved were students. In a written statement to First Coast News, the school said:
Student privacy laws prohibit the University from commenting on investigations and disciplinary actions involving students. The University takes allegations of sexual misconduct with utmost seriousness. It has a comprehensive process to provide supportive measures to complainants, a thorough investigation, and due process rights to the accused. Details on the University’s Sexual Misconduct and Title IX Sexual Harassment Regulation may be found at https://www.unf.edu/president/policies_regulations/01-General/1_0050R.aspx.
Borda Boyanovitch pleaded not guilty to the mass shooting threat charge. He has not been formally charged in the rape cases.
Falgatter said he will ask the State Attorney’s Office not to formally file sexual battery charges.
“He’s a senior at UNF, focused on graduating. He was on the dean’s list. … our goal is to explain to the State Attorney’s Office that these charges are not accurate.”