Police: Some watched as teen girl gang-raped outside Calif. school dance, didn’t report it

Search for suspects in Calif. teen 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 California high school homecoming dance but didn’t report it.

One suspect is in custody for his alleged role in the assault, but police say as many as six other men raped 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 Monday with non-life-threatening injuries.

Manuel Ortega, 19, was arrested at the scene and is being held on $800,000 bail on suspicion of rape and robbery. He’s not a student at the school.

Police say the girl left the dance around 9:30 p.m. 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 consumed a large amount of alcohol when the assault began.

Officers responded around midnight when they received a tip about a possible assault on campus. They 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.