ELLENSBURG, Wash.- 35 years after gathering national attention for an alleged attack on a woman at New York City’s Central Park, Raymond Santana was at Central Washington University to share his story of incarceration and exoneration.
At 14-years-old, Santana and four other African American teenagers were arrested and convicted for the rape and assault on a woman, before DNA evidence exonerated and released them from prison. Santana says at such a young age, he was just trying to do whatever it took so he can go home.
Now nearing 50 years old, Santana recalls what an NYPD officer told him he could do to go home.
“You’re going to go to this other prescient, you’re gonna tell the same story you told me, and then you’re going to do a video and then after that you can go home,” says Santana. “I believed it. I was 14 years old. I was naive.”
He says one statement turned into two statements and two pages more than doubled.
After spending seven years in prison, the group dubbed “The Central Park Five” were now “The Exonerated Five.” His story of rebuilding his life after being wrongfully imprisoned is the story he’s sharing in Central Washington.
Working with Central Washington University, the and others, Santana spent two days in the Yakima and Ellensburg areas to share his story.
At Eisenhower and Davis High School, he spoke to the students and community members sharing his story.
Santana says there was an outpouring of supporters he met, even though he didn’t know where he was.
“I didn’t know where Yakima was at,” says Santana. “When I got here, it’s been awesome. It’s been awesome to come here and sit with the children and even with the community. How the community comes out and supports, it’s been a really great experience.”
Santana was excited to talk to the high school students, who showed him how excited they were to hear him.
“We know kids have short attention spans so to get there and to see how engaged they were, it told me I was on the right path with them,” says Santana.
Following his speaking engagements at high schools, Santana went to Central Washington for a town-hall speech moderated by CWU Law and Justice Professor Teresa Divine.
“It is such a pleasure to be here with you,” said Devine as she greeted the member of the Exonerated Five. “It’s almost a dream come true for me, I’m a New Yorker as you all know.”
Santana took questions from the Wildcat community about how he feels about the justice center today.
“What do you think are the next steps for us to take in terms of improving things?” asked one audience member.
“We have to figure out how do we turn it back to rehabilitation,” answered Santana. “These prisoners, people who are incarcerated eventually come back home to our community. How would you want them to return?”
Echoing the sentiment of change, an audience member asked how the future police officers, prosecutors and other professions can change for the better.
“Don’t cut any corners,” says Santana. “Do your job to the best of your abilities, do it effectively. You don’t have to cheat; you can do an honest job.”
The member of the Exonerated Five says that mindset should apply to everyone.
“As long as you have breath in your lungs you can get up and you can make a change,” says Santana.
He says he was approached by the Innocence Project after his exoneration to begin public speaking and sharing his story. His work helps himself as much as those who hear him.
“It gives me some inspiration, to keep doing what I do,” says Santana. “It can get draining at times and to come out and see this crowd-it provides energy. It provides substance for me. It gives me a push to keep going.”
