Sex assault charge dismissed against 19-year-old in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ case

Editor's note: Some details of this story are graphic

CHICAGO (WGN) -- A University of Illinois-Chicago student was cleared of any wrongdoing Thursday in a case involving an alleged sexual assault inspired by the film “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Mohammed Hossain, 19, who is a pre-med student, was accused last month of assaulting a fellow student in his dorm room at UIC.



On February 21, the female accuser had just seen the film “Fifty Shades of Grey” by herself and then agreed to meet up with Hossain.

During testimony, it was revealed the two had met in the fall semester and had consensual sex four to five times prior to that evening. But on that night, Hossain and his accuser engaged in acts where he bound her hands and legs and stuffed a necktie in her mouth.

The accuser testified she had consented to most of that -- but protested when she said the encounter physically started to hurt her.

Defense attorneys claimed Hossain thought throughout that she was just essentially recreating parts of the movie.

On Thursday, the judge dismissed the charge of criminal sexual assault.

Hossain has been in protective custody for the past month and was held in lieu of $500,000 bail. Walking out of the county lockup into a waiting crowd of reporters, Hossain told his side of the story and says he hopes to get on with his life.

“I don’t believe this actually occurred,” he said. “I would never actually sexually assault anyone.

“All that really matters is becoming a doctor, so I have one goal in mind, so that’s what I’ll set my heart to,” Hossain said Thursday night.

He also says no more relationships -- period -- at least not until he meets his goal of becoming a pediatrician and even then, Hossain says, he’ll be careful who he trusts.

Prosecutors still see it differently and released a statement saying, “The charges in this case were brought in good faith based upon the evidence available and in our view the victim provided very sincere and credible testimony at today’s hearing.”