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Arrests Made in Homecoming Gang Rape
By TERRY COLLINS
,
AP
posted: 4 HOURS 11 MINUTES AGO
comments: 81
filed under: Crime News, National News
RICHMOND, Calif. (Oct. 28) -- Three more people have been arrested in connection with the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance in an attack that has generated widespread outrage.
A man and two boys were arrested late Tuesday, including 21-year-old Salvador Rodriguez of Richmond, Calif., and two teens, 16 and 17. They were each booked on one count of gang rape and likely face other charges including robbery and kidnapping.
"These are people who played a significant role in the incident," Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said Wednesday. "I'm confident that more arrests will be made."
The attack over the weekend rattled this crime-ridden city of 120,000 in the San Francisco Bay area, where one police official called it one of the most heinous crimes he has ever seen. Some students have already left the school in response to the attack.
"It's not safe there at all," said 16-year-old Jennie Steinberg, whose mother let her transfer out of the school Tuesday. "I'm not going back."
The victim, a sophomore, had left the dance and was drinking alcohol in a school courtyard with a group when she was attacked, police said.
Police said as many as seven ranging in age from 15 to mid-20s attacked the girl for more than two hours at a dimly lit area near benches Saturday night. As many as two dozen people saw the rape without notifying police.
Officers found the girl semiconscious and naked from the waist down near a picnic table. She remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
"This was a barbaric act. I still cannot get my head around the fact that numerous people either watched, walked away or participated in her assault," Lt. Mark Gagan said Tuesday. "It's one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer."
Gagan would not comment on rumors that observers took video of the attack on cell phones and may have posted it online.
Richmond Police Department / AP
3 photos
Manuel Ortega, 19, is one of five young men arrested so far in the violent gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school during a homecoming dance. As many as two dozen people witnessed the attack, which lasted more than two hours Saturday night, and did nothing, police say.
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'A Barbaric Act'
Manuel Ortega, 19, is one of five young men arrested so far in the violent gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside of a high school during a homecoming dance. As many as two dozen people witnessed the attack, which lasted more than two hours Saturday night, and did nothing, police say.
Richmond Police Department / AP
Richmond Police Department / AP
Manuel Ortega, a 19-year-old former student, was arrested after trying to flee the scene. He is being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape and robbery. Attempts to reach Ortega at the jail Tuesday were unsuccessful.
A 15-year-old student also was booked late Monday on one count of sexual assault, Gagan said.
Late Tuesday, SWAT teams were preparing to make more arrests as police are also offering a $20,000 reward they hope will bring more people forward with any information.
Even though he said as many as two dozen people were witnesses, Gagan said officials are still trying to determine the exact number of people involved.
"I'm confident that the list will expand and at the end of our investigation we will get a clear indication of who was there and who did what," Gagan said.
The attack occurred in a city that has dealt with its share of vicious crimes in recent years, and the school recently approved surveillance cameras after a series of violent crimes. In one case a few years back, a student was shot outside the school, ran inside and died in the then-principal's hands, said Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
Richmond is an industrialized conclave near the San Francisco Bay that is known as one of the nation's most dangerous cities. In 2007, Richmond had 47 homicides, and the murder rate led the state for cities with populations of 100,000 or more, surpassing Los Angeles and Oakland.
That number dropped to 27 in 2008 but has spiked to 44 killings so far this year, amid drug dealing and gang activity that have engulfed the town, Gagan said.
Gagan 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 girl had consumed a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said. Gagan said the girl's father tried to call her cell phone, but no one answered.
Gagan said police received a tip about a possible assault on campus from a young woman who heard two males bragging about it. She was found nearly an hour after the dance, which more than 400 people attended, had ended.
Neil Smelser, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California-Berkeley, said Tuesday that the incident could be categorized as "bystander indifference."
"The questions become, 'Why didn't they do something moral to stop an immoral situation? Why didn't they behave morally by calling the police, telling school officials?'" said Smelser, who has written extensively on collective behavior.
"It's very likely that they didn't have any emotional or social ties to the victim," Smelser continued. "If they had any linkage to her, then maybe we'd have a different outcome."
Trujillo said there were four police officers and 15 school site supervisors monitoring the dance. He said there were no problems during the dance inside the school gym, calling it "a success." He said two site supervisors were allowed to leave because they felt they had enough security inside.
But Trujillo called the rape outside on school grounds a "tragic incident."
"We wished this had never happened. This was such a heinous crime," Trujillo said. "We are all going to learn from this."
Student Joseph Machado, 16, said the mood inside Richmond High School on Tuesday was tense as officers were questioning fellow students. Two squad cars were parked outside the main entrance, and school security teams were patrolling the grounds in golf carts.
"Some of my friends were saying, 'What if that happened to me?'" said Machado, whose parents didn't allow him to go to the dance. "This school, this city already has a bad reputation and now this makes it worse."
Rocket Dog
Where is our moral compass?
Why the heck was a 21 year old man at a homecoming dance at a high school?
Could he be also be charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors? He should.
Did he provide the alcohol--and if so was this perhaps even premeditated? Now that is REALLY scary. It was a crime of opportunity....did he create that opportunity?
My kids high schools have security everywhere. Security is normally doubled for evening events PLUS many parents are present. Where the heck was security?
This tragedy is astounding. I hope her parents sue. Why? because someone dropped the ball somewhere. This was an event where you assume your kid will be safe. If it had happened at a hotel, a park, or any other public place I would not blame the school in any way---but this happened on school grounds.
The girl...sure she shouldn't have been drinking--but who gave her the booze? Why was booze there?
The people who watched or walked past ignoring it---will have to live with themselves AND the thought that the same thing COULD happen to them. I hope it gives them nightmares.
Speaking of nightmares...every single Horror flick that has been on TV this past week has BOTH sex and violence. Perhaps there has been a desensitization of their moral compass when watching such filth. At first I thought...how much sex could possibly be in a horror film? I was horrified. I nixed them in our home.
1I posted but they flagged it.
2I heard about this yesterday - it is sick. Those that committed the act should be jailed for life. Those who stood by and watched should be given a public beating and made to stand in the most public place with signs around their necks stating that they watched a gang rape and did nothing. Let the public mete out their punishment.
3I can't believe they didn't approve my comment. Seriously...all I said was that I questioned why a 21 yr old thought it wise to be at a high school homecoming dance...asked if he brought the booze and then suggested that if he did then he is not only guilty of rape but also contributing to the deliquency of minors....and if he did bring the booze it could also be thought as premeditated.
4The school...I hold accountable to a degree. They are supposed to have enough security to prevent this happening on campus.
My kids high school has so much security at evening events that no kid would consider doing anything like this.
The ones that watched and did nothing---I hope they have nightmares for the rest of their life.
5That poor girl! I'm just sick that people could see this happening and do nothing! It's like the poor kid that got beaten to death in Chicago. People stood around taking pictures with their cell phones and didn't do anything to help him either. What's wrong with the world?
6I don't understand why anybody didn't immediately call 911. This is absolutely horrific and sickens me! I think we should all keep the young lady and her family in our prayers.
skb, you took the words right out of my mouth, "What's wrong w/ the world?".
7The fact that no one cared enough to contact the police is beyond astounding.
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