Suspect arrested again for alleged sexual assault in Orlando and charged with rape with knife

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla — A man arrested in connection with multiple sexual assaults in Orlando last year was re-indicted this week, accused of raping a 41-year-old woman in South Florida.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Vincent Laing was arrested on a warrant Wednesday and charged with sexual assault with a deadly weapon.

According to an arrest report, officers responded to a rape crisis center Tuesday where a woman told them she had been sexually abused by a man she met through a personal ad and identified him as Laing. The woman said she met Laing at an apartment building under construction in Wellington and reported he had a knife and forced her to have sex with him. The woman also accused Laing of recording the attack and ordering her to say things as they happened, the report said. Officials said the woman called the sheriff’s office after self-identifying Laing, in part because she had accused him of rape in Orlando media reports.

Laing was previously accused of an alleged knife rape at an apartment complex along Kirkman Road in June 2023, then again in August for another reported knife rape at the same complex.

According to the Orange County Clerk’s Office, the case regarding the alleged June 2023 incident was dismissed in February, while Laing was allowed to post bond in the August 2023 case – also in February.

Those two previous cases fall under the purview of Orange-Osceola District Attorney Andrew Bain, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed after he suspended Monique Worrell in August 2023, a few days before Laing’s arrest in Orlando. A motion to revoke bail in the August 2023 case was filed Thursday in Orange County, records show.

Laing’s first court appearance was Thursday morning in Palm Beach County. He was appointed a public defender because a judge found probable cause to hold him in the Palm Beach County Jail without bail and otherwise ordered him to have no contact with the victim and not to possess any weapons, records show.

Bain commented on Laing’s arrest on Thursday.

“As for the previous case, we did not have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that we could hold him and charge him in this case. But as you know, his behavior makes him a very dangerous person who we need to get off the streets. We asked a judge for a $250,000 bond in the ongoing case, the judge reduced it to $125,000, and today we filed a motion to revoke his bond based on the new charges in Palm Beach. “So we’re after this guy, we really want him off the streets, he’s a very dangerous individual and we want to make sure we can hold him accountable,” Bain said.

The prosecutor told reporters it was disappointing to hear of the latest allegation against Laing.

“Anytime something like this happens, it’s disappointing because it means that another person has been hurt, another citizen of our community has been hurt, someone else is now a victim and someone else has to live with that victimization.” Rest of her life. “Any time a violent incident occurs in our community, it is something that greatly concerns me personally and our office,” Bain said.

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