One of the Saddest Things I've Ever Read....

[brywool]

From CNN:

Police: As many as 20 present at gang rape outside school dance
October 28, 2009 9:03 a.m. EDT
Police say a student at Richmond High School was gang raped outside during a homecoming dance.
Police say a student at Richmond High School was gang raped outside during a homecoming dance.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* 10 people involved in assault, 10 others watched and offered no help, police say
* Richmond, California, police say student was gang raped for over two hours
* Former student, 19, and 15-year-old arrested
* Victim, 15, remains in the hospital in stable condition

Richmond, California (CNN) -- Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.

Police posted a $20,000 reward Tuesday for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in what authorities describe as a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus in suburban San Francisco.

Two teenage suspects have been jailed, but more arrests, as many as 20 total, are expected, according to a police detective.

"We will be making arrests continually as we develop probable cause," said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. "With this number of people implicated in the incident we're going to be making arrests on an ongoing basis."

As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it, police said.

A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under.

"We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing," Gagan said. "The law can be very rigid. We don't have the authority to make an arrest."

Charles Ramsey, a member of the Richmond school board, said the school district bears some responsibility for the attack. School administrators and police apparently weren't watching the area as they should have, Ramsey said.

The school said it would hold a safety meeting for parents and students Wednesday evening to address the assault.

The victim was found unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said.

The girl was flown by helicopter to a hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. She was in stable condition Tuesday, police said.

Investigators canvassed the community with fliers, which included the reward offer, hoping to identify more suspects Tuesday.


"There is one individual in custody who has made some spontaneous statements that have led me to believe that he is culpable for what happened," Richmond police Lt. Johan Simon said.

Nineteen-year-old Manuel Ortega, described as a former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said.

A 15-year-old was later arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual assault. A third teenager was being interviewed, Gagan said.

"Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts," Gagan said.

"As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated," Gagan said.

The attack occurred on school grounds as the annual homecoming dance was under way inside the school Saturday night, authorities said.




SERIOUSLY- WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH OUR SOCIETY THAT THIS SHIT CAN HAPPEN????
These bastards should NEVER get out of jail. Seriously, I cannot believe this stuff....

[Playitloudforme]

It reminded me of the movie "The Accused"... a gang rape where a ton of people watched, and did nothing. I don't get it at all.

[bluejeangirl76]

A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under.

"We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing," Gagan said. "The law can be very rigid. We don't have the authority to make an arrest."

Absolute 100% pure bullshit. WHAT the HELL?

[brywool]

Somebody needs to take care of these guys. I just cannot believe the cruelty people can do to each other. Sickening.

[S2M]

Sounds familiar.....



Happened about 20 miles from me....I remember it.

The people who stand around and egg it on should be tried as well.....

[brywool]

except this was a freakin' KID. a 15 year old girl...
I HATE this kind of stuff.

[Ehwmatt]

Nothing shocks me any more. I said it already today, the level of depravity and evil in this country is at an all-time high and on the rise. We are fucked.

[Jana]

Sounds familiar.....



Happened about 20 miles from me....I remember it.

The people who stand around and egg it on should be tried as well.....

Powerful movie. The rape scene was so hard to watch. Jodie Foster was brilliant in it.

[hoagiepete]

A slug to the head. Period.

Oh wait...it really wasn't their fault. They are the true victims. Yup...their mom breast fed them too long, their dad spanked them when they were 5, they are stressed out because they don't have the same shoes as the other kids, blah, blah, blah.

Glad there was no information on the demographics of the accused 'cause it don't matter if they were black, white or yellow or rich or poor. The full extent of the law should be thrown at them, including those that just watched and did nothing.

This society is getting sicker by the day.

[brywool]

.... The rape scene was so hard to watch.

I didn't watch it for that very reason. Not very many things make me squirm, but rape or scenes where kids get hurt... can't do it.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Yeah....this also has been in our local news for the past several days. Its a prime example of the types of kids who are living in the Bay Area of San Francisco. So much crime and corruption, plus so they go to jail for a number of years. They know from what they see and hear, that they will have a roof over their heads and a place to eat and stay warm, out of harms way of the recession. Only people who this recession has not affected are people in prison. Lucky them....

It's going to be quite interesting when all this goes to trial. Wonder if there will be any San Francisco sanctuary kids involved with this deal.

[Blueskies]

Disgusting beyond words.

and to this part:
"As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it, police said.

A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under."

Ridiculous. To stand by and do nothing about it is a crime...regardless of the victims age.
Should there be more encompassing laws written that make a witness of a crime complicit to the crime? There should not have to be as anyone with any morality would not stand by and do nothing to stop such atrocities....but appearently the need to write human decency and common sense morality into law is there. Things like this vile inhuman act goes to show that too much of humanity has not evolved any further then neanderthals.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Good thing this wasn't my daughter that this happened to. Because I would have gotten to these fuckers before the cops and I would have killed them all....but then I would have been sent to prison and executed for killing them.

[Jana]

.... The rape scene was so hard to watch.

I didn't watch it for that very reason. Not very many things make me squirm, but rape or scenes where kids get hurt... can't do it.

But her performance makes this movie a must see. Unbelievable peformance throughout. And the rape is more emotionally brutal than physically b/c she was very drunk in the scene and it was happening b/f she realized it.

[brywool]

.... The rape scene was so hard to watch.

I didn't watch it for that very reason. Not very many things make me squirm, but rape or scenes where kids get hurt... can't do it.

But her performance makes this movie a must see. Unbelievable peformance throughout. And the rape is more emotionally brutal than physically b/c she was very drunk in the scene and it was happening b/f she realized it.

NOPE

[Michigan Girl]

Very Sad...brings back memories of that girl in Glen Ridge, New Jersey who was gang raped
by several member of the football team!!

[SultanOfSwing]

From CNN:


SERIOUSLY- WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH OUR SOCIETY THAT THIS SHIT CAN HAPPEN????
These bastards should NEVER get out of jail. Seriously, I cannot believe this stuff....

For me personally, if these rapists found guilty, if I'm the lawmaker, jail time is not enough for these fuckers. I'll recommend to cut their dicks and sell them to the needy, like Chastity.

[Playitloudforme]

I vote for sending them all to an island where they can't get off (literally).

[StoneCold]

This is nothing new.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese

Hells Angels and runaways

War in general (Nazis, Darfur etc, etc.)

Boston Bar gang rape

Date rapes, roofies

Pick your poison, its all out there.

The kicker here is the school saying they're not responsible for the kids after the dance. It was school property. They didn't have a designated pick up spot as far as I've read.

Sure ultimately, the victim shouldn't have strayed away alone and hung with thugs but everybody makes mistakes. The perps all need to be tried as adults so they're not out at 21. This kind of behavior shouldn't be rewarded with freedom in a few years.

I have no problem with the death penalty for them either. Low life scum. Why should we pay for their meals, clothing and health care while incarcerated?

[Suzanne]

Nothing shocks me any more. I said it already today, the level of depravity and evil in this country is at an all-time high and on the rise. We are fucked.

Agreed 100%. I hope everyone that did this is raped repeatedly in prison.

[Ehwmatt]

That guy looks like he weighs about 140 lbs. What a pussy

[Voyager]

Mr. Tough Guy..Manuel Ortega

I hope that sorry son of a bitch gets sodomized four or five times a day in prison.

[StevePerryHair]

Sounds familiar.....



Happened about 20 miles from me....I remember it.

The people who stand around and egg it on should be tried as well.....

This story makes me feel sicker than the scene in that movie did and that scene made me feel really sick

[SYNCH]

Mr. Tough Guy..Manuel Ortega



From Fox...

4 Charged in Gang Rape, Beating of Girl After Homecoming Dance

All four — ages 15, 16, 17 and 19 — were charged with rape and enhancements that they acted in concert, which could make them eligible for life in prison.

Besides rape, the 19-year-old, Manuel Ortega of Richmond, was charged with robbery and assault causing great bodily injury.

Police believe as many as 10 people ranging in age from 15 to mid-20s attacked the girl for more than two hours.

Manuel Ortega, 19, was arrested at the scene and was being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape and robbery.

Police theorize the attack was not only watched by up to 12 others but may have been videotaped with cell phone cameras, according to KTVU.com.

I can't sense any heart on this guy. I pray that I'll be the medium to be used to kill these sickos, God!

[Ehwmatt]

He looks like a stunt double from Gran Torino, I got just the thing for him

[Michigan Girl]

I can't sense any heart on this guy. !

Yep...empty eyes, very empty eyes!!!

[Voyager]

If I was that girl's father, they would have to tie me down. I would go insane with anger and rage. I'm easy-going for the most part, but something like that would set me off if it happened to my daughter. I would want to treat the people responsible for this cowardly act like the rabid animals they are and put them down.

I actually have a 14-year-old daughter (almost 15), and just last month she was going to go to her school's homecoming, but she didn't want to go alone so she stayed home. So, when I read something like this it's very real to me:

(CNN) -- She had come alone to the Richmond High School homecoming dance, gorgeous in a sparkling purple dress and faux diamond baubles. The DJ played salsa, meringue, rap. When the teenager disappeared, her friends thought she had gone home early.

Except she never said goodbye.

"We were going to go look for her," said Kami Baker, 16, a junior at the school.

The next day, Baker learned the ugly truth about what had happened to her friend.

She had been gang raped and beaten for almost two-and-a-half hours and left unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday night.

"I busted up crying," Baker said.

The campus incident in the Bay Area city north of Oakland has shaken students and their families. Baker was one of many people connected to the school and the community who lashed out at officials at a public safety hearing Wednesday.

Baker blamed school district officials for not doing enough to protect her school -- and her friend. She said none of the four officers who were at the homecoming dance was patrolling the school premises even though there were a dozen young men hanging out just a few feet from the gym entrance. She says school officials chose not to take any action.

"I looked outside of the gym and I saw 12 to 15 guys, sitting there, with no IDs," Baker said at the hearing. "The officers -- not only did they not check the IDs of those students or men sitting outside of of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no ... checking either. The assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men, and did nothing about it."

Baker took the podium with her younger sister, Barbie, a freshman at the school, who had spent a chunk of Saturday evening with the rape victim.

"This story has disrupted the school's morale greatly, including my own. I am friends with the girl," Baker said. "When I started here, I felt extremely unsafe and so did she, due to the lack of police officers and security officers."

Baker later described the 15-year-old girl as a churchgoer who struggled to fit in at Richmond High.

Police investigating the rape have arrested five people -- two adults and three minors, who will be charged as adults, said Lt. Mark Gagan, the Richmond police spokesman.

As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, police have said. Another 10 people watched, without calling 911.

The victim was released from hospital Wednesday, Gagan said.

Baker took heart in her friend's progress as she recalled how a night of joy for carefree teenagers turned into one that no one wants to remember.

[CatEyes]

One point that was raised yesterday by one of the legal eagles:

even tho they stood around and watched and the girl was over 14 yrs old, many of the "observers" took pictures with their cell phones.

Deleting the pics doesn't completely erase them - they can still be accessed.

It is planned now that anyone caught with the pics on their cell phones will be charged with possession of (and distribution if they sent it to anyone) child porn. They will be registered sex offenders.

That won't stop that young lady from having nightmares for the rest of her life, however, it may make people stop and think.

OK maybe that is asking a lot.

Cat

[RedWingFan]

California?? Yeah, He'll get a couple of years of "rehabilitation" and then be released back into the public!

[The Sushi Hunter]

You'll love this...one of the defendants family is already using the race card in this.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... .DTL&tsp=1