Thread: Mexican gunmen attack church camp-out, 7 girls raped

Mexican gunmen attack church camp-out, 7 girls raped

July 14, 2012 7:11 PM

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) — A gang of about a dozen armed people stormed into a church youth camp-out near Mexico City and went on an hours-long rampage of beatings, robberies and rape, authorities said Saturday.

Seven girls were raped during the Friday attack and several campers were beaten, according to the state prosecutors office in Mexico State, which surrounds the Mexican capital.

About 90 youths sponsored by a church group known as the Chains of the Holy Trinity were camping at an eco-park on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City, in a hilly area that is close to the lower flanks of the Popocatepetl volcano. Prosecutors did not say what church the group is affiliated with, but the camp-out appeared to have been a sort of spiritual retreat.

The office said that the attack lasted for hours, and that when the attackers left they stole two vehicles and other articles from the campers.

The office said investigators were pursuing two lines of inquiry, but did not reveal what they were.

Drug gangs operate on the outskirts of Mexico City, but campers and hikers have also been targeted in the past by common criminals.

The park is supposed to be patrolled by local police, but the attack occurred during the night and it was unclear whether officers were on duty at the time. Police only found out about the crimes when an adult organizer of the camp-out showed up at police offices to report the attack.

The state government said in a statement that it had witness' descriptions of the attackers and pledged to catch and punish those responsible.

Mexican gunmen attack church camp-out, 7 girls raped | gunmen, mexican, attack - Brownsville Herald

This attack would not have been possible if Mexican citizens had 2nd amendment gun rights like Americans do. If it was an American church retreat, the chances would be high that several of the chaperones would have been conceal carry permit holders.

In the real world, one's children must be protected with the force of arms to keep them safe from rapists and molesters.

W

Ah yes, those "famous" family values at their best...NOT!

17 held in attack, rapes on church camp in Mexico

GLORIA PEREZ and MARK STEVENSON / Associated Press
Posted: 07/19/2012 08:07:20 AM MDT

TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) - Police arrested 17 men Wednesday on suspicion of attacking youths and raping five women and girls who were on a church camping trip outside Mexico City, a brutal assault that shocked much of the country.

The attorney general for the State of Mexico, Alfredo Castillo, said 11 of the gang members were identified by some of the victims. In interrogation videos played for reporters, three of the suspects confessed that they sexually abused the women and girls because fellow attackers told them to.

Two of the suspects were local police officers and another had served in the military, Castillo said, speaking two days after authorities announced the arrest of a man who was described as not directly involved in the assault on the camp-out but who allegedly provided information to the assailants.

President Felipe Calderon met with parents and lawyers of the victims Wednesday to discuss the crime, which highlighted the increasing dangers of outdoors activities around the capital.

Sponsored by a church group, 90 youths were camping Friday at an eco-park on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City when a group of armed men stormed into the hilly area. The attackers went on an hours-long rampage of beatings, robberies and rapes at the site close to the lower flanks of the Popocatepetl volcano.

The episode and a similar mass robbery and rape attack in February at a spot nearby have reduced city residents' trust in the serenity of the wooded hills around the city and interrupted a decades-old tradition of outdoors activities in the pine and fir forests.


Prosecutors have said the latest attack was not related to organized crime or drug gangs. Common criminals, robbers and rapists have been targeting hikers and campers on the city's outskirts.

Mexico's equivalent of the Boy Scouts said Tuesday that it is recommending scouts not go on hikes in small groups and avoid about 11 wooded areas on the outskirts of Mexico City. No scouts were involved in the attack.

The Scouts Association of Mexico said future hikes should ask for police protection if necessary. The group's statement said it coordinated a recent hike with local police departments.

Gerardo Catano, who leads tours and a mountain rescue group in the township of Tlamanalco on the slopes of the volcanos that ring Mexico City, said the number of hikers and campers has fallen about 90 percent in the wake of the most recent attack.

Catano said he has been robbed three times while leading groups through the mountains. He said the attackers were armed with pistols and shotguns, but he agreed with prosecutors that the robbers probably don't belong to sophisticated crime gangs or drug cartels.

"The organized criminals, they go after other targets" with more money, Catano said. "They are probably people from the (mountain) communities themselves."

Organized or not, Catano said the problem has gotten worse, with bands of attackers growing bolder and picking on larger groups, calmly spending hours humiliating their victims.

He recalled that in one of the attacks in which a group he led was robbed, "they took their time to threaten us and even ate our food in front of us. They had all the time in the world to do what they wanted."

In another large-scale attack, an armed band robbed a group of about 120 hikers in February, and reportedly raped two.

"You can't go up alone anymore, and it's even more dangerous if you have a woman with you," Catano said.

He and other guides have called on local authorities to deploy horse-mounted police patrols, and suggested officials station officers at some of the better-known trailheads and forest clearings.

17 held in attack, rapes on church camp in Mexico - El Paso Times