Five arrested in alleged gang rape

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7th person arrested in gang rape

November 3, 2009

(CNN) -- A seventh person has been arrested in a gang rape on a high school campus in northern California, police said Tuesday.

Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan did not identify the suspect. Of those arrested so far, one was released for lack of evidence.

Police say as many as 10 people were involved in the rape October 24 in a dimly lit alley outside Richmond High School, where a homecoming dance was taking place.

Another 10 people watched the attack without calling 911, police say.

Authorities say the attack lasted for more than two hours. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and was released Wednesday.

Read local coverage of story from CNN affiliate KTVU

The victim's parents issued a statement that urged those in the community to work to ensure that such an attack never happens again.
"If you need to express your outrage, please channel your anger through positive action," they said, according to the Rev. Jim Wheeler, who said he was the family's pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Richmond.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/03/...ape/index.html

[Bailey]

Posted: 9:58 pm PST November 4, 2009Updated: 3:14 pm PST November 5, 2009


RICHMOND, Calif. -- A former Richmond High student told a police 911dispatcher that people had seen a naked teenage girl lying on the ground outside the school’s homecoming dance, but chosen not to call police.

Margarita Vargas, who identified herself as Maggie on the call reporting the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old freshman, said friends had told her about the girl, but that she was afraid to go look for herself.

“We haven’t seen her, we heard that from two of our friends,” she told the dispatcher in the minute-long call released by police Thursday. “We didn’t want to go back there because we were scared.”

Vargas appeared on camera for the first time Wednesday to describe her reaction to the attack and how she felt when she called authorities.

"I was shocked because I really couldn't believe it," explained Vargas.

She described the area of the sprawling 200,000 square foot campus where the attack took place as “deserted.”

Vargas said that on the night of the attack, a family member heard three males bragging about the hours-long gang rape. Feelings of empathy with the victim led her to call police.

"I wouldn't want anybody to hurt me and get away with it, or people to know about it and not do anything about it," she said.

Despite the prevalence of a “no-snitching” culture, the young mother immediately dialed 911.

"You know I have feelings,” said Vargas. “I wouldn't want that girl to die or anything. I feel like if it weren't for me, she would have been dead."

When police arrived they found the young victim semi-conscious, naked and curled up under a picnic table.

The uproar over the attack has pushed administrators into establishing new safety improvements to secure the Richmond High School campus.

Everything from installing additional lighting to expanding anti-violence programs to bringing in neighborhood volunteers to patrol campuses were given the green light at a West Contra Costa County School Board meeting Wednesday night.

The board is moving with urgency after coming under fire for not taking action in the past.

New, brighter lights were being installed Wednesday night at the high school in and around the area where a 15-year-old girl was raped, beaten and robbed by as many as 10 young men while a crowd of up to 20 bystanders watched the attack happen.

Students and school officials agree the narrow alley that a few picnic tables, dumpsters, and vehicles all share, has been dimly lit for far too long.

Since the attack, the school board administrators of a billion dollar bond program have been accused of moving slowly on a new surveillance system and fence at the school.

"We have $1.2 million to do this project now; we had $1.2 million five months ago and 12 months ago, because the taxpayers gave you that money," said El Sobrante resident Robert Brower.

Wednesday night, the board finally awarded the contract for 120 digital cameras at Richmond High to be monitored by police.

"The security cameras that we have will be linked to the city of Richmond and the city of San Pablo so that they'll be effective," said WCCUSD trustee Charles Ramsey.

Ramsey said the cameras should be up and running within three months with construction on a new fence beginning within 30 days.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/21527091/detail.html

Related:

http://www.ktvu.com/video/21534554/index.html
RICHMOND: Listen To 911 Call Reporting The Alleged Homecoming Gang Rape

[Bailey]

The Associated Press
Posted: 11/06/2009 02:42:14 PM PST
Updated: 11/06/2009 02:42:15 PM PST

RICHMOND, Calif.—A sixth suspect has been charged in the gang rape of 16-year-old girl outside Richmond High School's homecoming dance.

Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan says 21-year-old Elvis Torrentes was charged Thursday with rape by a foreign object of a person unable to resist due to intoxication, rape by a foreign object while acting in concert and rape while acting in concert.

Police say Torrentes was one of as many as 10 people who participated in the Oct. 24 attack on the girl in a dimly lit courtyard on campus. The victim was found naked and semi-conscious after the nearly two-hour assault.

Investigators believe as many as 20 people may have watched the rape without calling police.

Contra Costa County prosecutors have filed rape charges against five others, ranging in age from 15 to 21.

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13731054

[Bailey]

By Malaika Fraley
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 11/06/2009 04:47:48 PM PST
Updated: 11/06/2009 04:50:45 PM PST

MARTINEZ — Charges for a Richmond man connected to the gang rape of a Richmond High School student outside a homecoming dance indicate his alleged involvement differed from five other defendants facing stiffer punishment, though prosecutors are not saying how.

Elvis Josue Torrentes, 21, was charged Thursday with sexual penetration of an incapable person, rape by a foreign object in concert and forcible rape in concert — punishable by up to 26 years in prison.

His five co-defendants, however, are facing life in prison, each charged with a special charge enhancement that alleges they "personally" and physically committed the assault. Prosecutors will not discuss the facts of the case or each defendants' alleged role in the rape, citing the ongoing investigation.

Pinole resident Marcelles Peter, 17, and San Pablo residents Cody Ray Smith, 15, and Ari Morales, 16, are each charged with rape by a foreign object in concert and an enhancement of personally committing sexual penetration by force. Morales is also charged with second-degree robbery.

Manuel Ortega, 19, of Richmond, is charged with second-degree robbery causing great bodily injury, assault causing great bodily injury, rape in concert, and an enhancement for personally inflicting great bodily injury.

Jose Carlos Montano, 18, of Richmond, is charged with rape in concert, rape by a foreign object in concert, and two charge enhancements for personally committing rape and personally committing sexual penetration by force.

Prosecutors said the brutality of the crime lead them to charge the juvenile suspects as adults.

The 16-year-old victim was hospitalized for several days after, police said, numerous men and boys raped her — while others watched — in a dark courtyard at Richmond High School during a homecoming dance Oct. 24. The girl was assaulted for two hours before word of the assault reached a young woman in the neighborhood who called 911.

All six defendants are due back in court on Tuesday. Only one, Smith, has so far entered a plea — not guilty.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news...nclick_check=1

[Bailey]

Updated at 07:31 PM today

By Cecilia Vega

RICHMOND, CA (KGO) -- He was at first arrested, then released for lack of evidence, now Salvador Rodriguez says he was the only one who tried to help the 16-year-old Richmond High School student who was gang raped outside her homecoming dance.

"She was by herself, she was naked and I tried to help her and I reached for her and she started screaming and I said, 'Hey, I don't want to hurt you, I just want to help, that's all I want to do is just help you,'" Rodriguez said. "So she stopped screaming, it's as if she knew, you know, I wasn't trying to do nothing and then I grabbed my t-shirt and covered her up with it."

Speaking publicly for the first time, the 21-year-old said he was skateboarding outside Richmond High the night of the dance. He saw that a group had formed on a poorly lit section of campus; what he saw when he got there was horrific.

"They were kicking her in her head and they were beating her up, robbing her and ripping her clothes off; it's something you can't get out your mind," Rodriguez said.

Police say the rape went on for 2.5 hours and that as many as 10 people may have participated while 20 others watched and did nothing.

"I saw people, like, dehumanizing her; I saw some pretty crazy stuff," Rodriguez said.

ABC7 spoke to another witness to the rape. He was summoned over by another bystander watching the attack.

"She was pretty quiet; I thought she was like dead for a minute but then I saw her moving around, I was like, 'Oh,'" the 16-year-old witness said.

He says he never called police because he did not have a cell phone, and he was scared.

"I really wanted to help her but I don't know, I just didn't," he said.

He watched for 15-20 minutes. Not even his family knows he was there.

"I feel like I could have done something but I don't feel like I have any responsibility for anything that happened," he said.

Rodriquez says he knew at least one of the attackers and tried to stop the group from taking pictures of the victim on their cell phone.

"I just see like everybody going crazy and messing with her and I was like, 'Hey man, calm down, leave her alone, that's a little girl,' you don't do nothing like that,' cuz I got two 15-year-old sisters myself," Rodriquez said.

He wishes he could have done more, but now he fears being labeled as a snitch. He is friends with one of the suspects in custody.

"People say, 'Why didn't I call the cops,' but at the same time, I live in Richmond, a neighborhood like this, snitching is something you don't do, you know, I mean I have to walk down the streets now in fear of my life," Rodriquez said.

Police are still awaiting results from DNA evidence taken from the crime scene. If there is a match, Rodriquez could be rearrested.

The six people who have been charged in the homecoming assault appeared in court again Tuesday. They did not enter pleas, but they remain in custody, and could be sent to prison for life if convicted. Three of those in custody are juveniles being charged as adults.

The witnesses who watched but did nothing cannot be charged with a crime because California law states that the girl would have had to be 14 years old for it to be a crime.

A fund has been specifically set up to benefit the young woman and her family. Parties may send a check to Richmond High School, 1250 23rd St., Richmond , CA 94804. Checks should be made out to "Richmond High School Student Fund" with "Sex assault victim" on the memo line.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...=7111732&tsp=1