Girl 'gang-raped, beaten' outside high school dance
Onlookers laughed, took pictures and even joined in on Saturday night during the two-hour gang rape of a semi-conscious 15-year-old outside her Californian high school homecoming dance, police said on Monday.
Teams of detectives and school resource officers spent the rest of the weekend trying to track down those responsible.
‘‘The crimes perpetrated against this 15-year-old are both startling and horrific,’’ police Chief Chris Magnus said. ‘‘We are committed to arresting the perpetrators and to preparing the strongest case possible by aggressively pursuing every lead and utilising the full resources of the department.’’
The victim, a student, remained hospitalised on Monday with non-life-threatening injuries.
Patrol officers broke up the sex assault just before midnight, arresting 19-year-old Manuel Ortega as he ran from the crime scene, they say.
‘‘She was raped, beaten, robbed and dehumanised by several suspects who were obviously OK enough with it to behave that way in each other’s presence,’’ said Lieutenant Mark Gagan, a patrol supervisor in the city’s Northern Policing District.
‘‘What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening, and failed to report it.’’
Ortega remained in the county jail on Monday, booked on suspicion of rape and robbery. Detectives believe as many as six other men also raped the girl as she lay semi-conscious on a courtyard bench, also beating her, taking pictures and stealing her jewellery.
Police took at least one student out of Richmond High on Monday afternoon for questioning.
Nobody called police until word of the on-going rape spread to a house party in the city’s North and East neighbourhood, where an appalled party goer felt obligated to phone in the rumour.
‘‘That’s just wrong,’’ said senior Class President Gina Saechao, who helped organise the dance. ‘‘What if it was your little sister? What if it was your mom?’’
Officers broke it up, and found the victim semi-conscious and obviously hurt. Paramedics flew her to a regional trauma centre in critical condition; she stabilised overnight.
The girl attended the dance, held in the gym from 7 to 11pm on Saturday. About 400 students attended, with three administrators and four police officers both inside and watching the surrounding parking lot and street.
‘‘Obviously we’ve had some breakdowns. Obviously, it was not safe because this happened,’’ said Charles Ramsey, a West Contra Costa school district board member. ‘‘Should we have had higher awareness, should we have been more vigilant? Probably.’’
Police say the victim left alone about 9.30pm and walked away from the dance, expecting to catch a ride from her father. Instead, a schoolmate caught her attention from behind a cyclone fence on the north end of campus.
He invited her to join a group drinking and hanging out in a secluded courtyard behind the fence, Gagan said, and escorted her to a short gate from which they made their way back to the group.
The assault began after the girl quickly drank a large amount of hard alcohol and fell over, Gagan said.
Detectives spent the rest of the weekend trying to identify the various participants, some of whom arrived after the gang rape began.
MCT
Oct. 27 2009
(ข่าวสด) แก๊งนักเรียน โฉดสหรัฐ รุมข่มขืนสาว15 ยับ
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