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Former Temple Fraternity President Ari Goldstein Released On Bail Following Sex Assault Charges

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The former president of a suspended fraternity at Temple University walked out of a Philadelphia prison after his family posted 10 percent of $2 million bail. Ari Goldstein's release comes two days after he was arrested on sexual assault charges.

CBS3 was exclusively outside the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia when Goldstein was released on bail. He refused to comment.

Goldstein was about to exit the country when police arrested him, his lawyer confirmed to CBS3. The Temple student, who is now charged with attempted rape, was at Logan International Airport in Boston as he was headed to Israel for a planned trip.

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"They're serious counts, that's right," said lawyer Perry de Marco. "However, it's very surprising that this is alleged to have happened in February, and although I reached out to the [Philadelphia] DA's office, I got nothing from them until they arrested him on Mother's Day."

Ari Goldstein
Ari Goldstein outside of jail. (credit: CBS3)

"He's not guilty and he's going to fight these charges with every bit of his being and I'm gonna do the same for him," de Marco said. "I'm telling you that what's going to happen here is if you don't win and prove this beyond a reasonable doubt there is going to be a firestorm from hell against everybody responsible for slandering this young man."

Goldstein's arrest follows the revelation weeks ago that Philadelphia Police SVU launched an investigation of Alpha Epsilon Pi after detectives say three women came forward, reporting allegations of sexual assault.

The fraternity was suspended following word of the investigation and Goldstein was removed as president.

It's alleged the 21-year-old from Wrightstown, Bucks County, attempted to rape a woman inside the fraternity house in February.

Goldstein was arraigned Wednesday as his bail was initially set at $2 million, even though the DA's office asked for $10 million bail.

"This $10 million bail – please explain to us why you did that?" said de Marco. "Why is my white Jewish client from Bucks County being treated any different than any other client from any other client of any other race from Philly who would get $3,000 to $12,000 bail could you tell me that?"

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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the high bail was appropriate due to the serious nature of the alleged crimes.

"We asked for extremely high bail and got extremely high bail. The allegations are extremely serious. We take this kind of case very seriously and I think it was entirely appropriate," said Krasner.

Jonathan Pierce, a spokesperson for the fraternity, says they are cooperating with police and that they are "deeply troubled by the charges" against Goldstein.

Pierce says that Goldstein was not the president of the Temple fraternity at the time of his arrest.

"He had been removed as president several weeks ago and the chapter has been suspended by the International Fraternity for nearly a month," said Pierce.

"We believe in due process but there is clearly no place for this behavior in our organization and, if proven true, I would expect him to be permanently expelled from our fraternity," Pierce added.

The Temple fraternity remains suspended as police continue their investigation.

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