Police say dozen people watched without reporting gang rape outside Calif. school dance
By APMonday, October 26, 2009
Police say dozen people watched Calif. gang rape
RICHMOND, Calif. — Police believe as many as a dozen people watched a 15-year-old girl get beaten and gang-raped outside her high school homecoming dance without reporting it.
Two suspects were in custody Monday, but police said as many as five other men attacked the girl over a two-hour period Friday night outside Richmond High School.
“She was raped, beaten, robbed and dehumanized by several suspects who were obviously OK enough with it to behave that way in each other’s presence,” Lt. Mark Gagan said. “What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening and failed to report it.”
The victim remained hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Manuel Ortega, 19, was arrested at the scene and was being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape and robbery. He is not a student at the school.
Richmond police Sgt. David Harris said he did not know if Ortega had retained an attorney.
A 15-year-old student also was booked late Monday on one count of sexual assault, Gagan said.
Police said the girl left the dance and was walking to meet her father for a ride home when a classmate invited her to join a group drinking in the courtyard. The victim had drank a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said.
Officers received a tip about a possible assault on campus and found the girl semi-conscious near a picnic table.
Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, said there were four police officers and three school administrators monitoring the dance, but the assault happened away from the gym.
Tags: California, Crimes Against Children, Dance, Education, North America, Richmond, School Curricula, Theft, United States, Violent Crime
January 6, 2010: 9:57 pm
Our country is dying from within. A teen girl gets gang raped and beaten in plain sight. People watch as if it is entertainment and do nothing, some even join in. What are parents teaching their kids at home and just how much worse can the behavior of teens in America get. I am truly sadden by the lack of a moral compass in the youth of America. Then a boy at a private school gets suspended for going to a public school prom with his girlfriend. Insane. Laughable. |
David Nelms