PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – A man arrested last year in connection to multiple sex attacks in Orlando was booked again this week, accused of raping a 41-year-old woman in South Florida.
Vincent Laing, 30, was arrested via warrant on Wednesday and faces a charge of sexual battery with a deadly weapon by force, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
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According to an arrest report, deputies responded Tuesday to a rape crisis center where a woman told them she had been sexually battered by a man she met through a personal ad, identifying him as Laing. The woman said that she met Laing at a Wellington residence that was under construction, reporting that he had a knife and forced her to have sex with him. The woman further accused Laing of recording the assault and ordering her to say things as it happened, the report states. Deputies said the woman called the sheriff’s office after identifying Laing on her own, in part through seeing him accused of rape in Orlando-based media reports.
Laing had previously been accused of an alleged rape at knifepoint at an apartment complex along Kirkman Road in June 2023, then again that August regarding another reported rape at knifepoint in the same complex.
Per the Orange County Clerk of Courts office, the case concerning the alleged June 2023 incident was dismissed in February while Laing was allowed to post bond — also that February — in the August 2023 case.
These two prior cases fall under the purview of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed after suspending Monique Worrell in August 2023, several days before Laing’s arrest in Orlando. A motion to revoke bond was filed Thursday in Orange County regarding the August 2023 case, records show.
Laing’s first appearance in court took place Thursday morning in Palm Beach County. He was appointed a public defender as a judge found probable cause to hold him without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail, otherwise ordering him to have no contact with the victim and to possess no weapons, records show.
Bain provided remarks Thursday about Laing’s arrest.
“As to the previous case, we didn’t have enough evidence to give it beyond a reasonable doubt to hold him on that case and charge him on that case. But as you know, you see from his pattern of behavior, he is a very dangerous individual that we need to get off the streets. We asked a judge in the open case for a $250,000 bond, the judge reduced it to $125,000, and today we filed a motion to revoke his bond based on the new charges down 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 that we’re gonna be able to hold him accountable,” Bain said.
The state attorney told reporters that it was disappointing to hear about the latest accusation against Laing.
“Every time something like this happens it’s disappointing because, again, that means there’s another individual that’s been injured, another citizen of our community that’s been harmed, somebody else is now being victimized, somebody else is going to have to live with that victimization for the rest of their life. Every time a violent incident happens in our community, it is something that is very concerning to me personally and to our office,” Bain said.
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