Thread: Juveniles charged as adults in gang-rape case, UPDATED

7th Person Arrested in Gang Rape of Girl After Homecoming Dance

Tuesday, November 03, 2009
AP

RICHMOND, Calif. — A seventh suspect has been arrested in connection with the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance.

Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan says a 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of rape, rape in concert with force and other charges that could lead to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors have filed charges against five others in the case, including 18-year-old Jose Carlos Montano.

One of the suspects, 21-year-old Salvador Rodriguez, was released after prosecutors said there's not enough evidence to charge him.

Gagan says authorities are looking for more suspects. Investigators believe as many as 10 people participated in the Oct. 24 assault, and several others watched.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571387,00.html

Cody Ray Smith, 15

Ari Abdallah Morales, 16

Marcelles James Peter, 17

Jose Carlos Montano, 18,

Manuel Ortega, 19

Salvador Rodriguez, 21, was released after prosecutors said there's not enough evidence to charge him.

15-year-old girl gang raped in Richmond, police say

By Doug Jastrow
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 01/16/2010 05:06:09 PM PST
Updated: 01/16/2010 05:38:21 PM PST

RICHMOND — A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted Friday after being abducted at gunpoint by a group of men as she walked along a Richmond street, fewer than two miles from the site of a similar gang attack on a teen in October that stung the city, police said.

The girl was approached about 5 p.m. as she was walking alone on Cutting Boulevard near Stege Avenue. Four men in a black Buick pulled alongside the girl, said Richmond police Sgt. Bisa French, before one of the men got out and forced her into their vehicle. The girl was threatened with a handgun, she said.

The victim was taken to an unknown residence where she was sexually assaulted by two of the men from the car, French said. She was then brought back to the car and driven to Contra Costa College where she was left at a bus stop, she told police.

A San Pablo police officer found the girl at the college about midnight. She is reported to be in good condition and did not need to be hospitalized after the assault, French said.

The suspects are described as four males in their late teens to early 20s. One of the suspects has long dreadlocks and the word "money" tattooed on the side of his neck, she said. No arrests have been made.

"This is a tragic event that obviously mirrors what happened at Richmond High," French said. "We're doing our best to get to the bottom of this and put these suspects in custody."

The latest group sexual assault comes just days after Richmond police made a public plea for help in finding a seventh suspect in the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl on the Richmond High School campus Oct. 24. The attack polarized the community, leading to national media attention and calls for safer campuses.

Six suspects have been arrested in that assault and are scheduled to return to court Thursday to have a preliminary hearing date set.

Richmond police say John Crane, 43, participated in the October assault and have been searching for him for several weeks before asking the public for assistance.

Crane is considered armed and dangerous. Police ask anyone who identifies Crane to immediately call 911.

Bay Area girl now says she wasn't kidnapped, raped

By The Associated Press
Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 4:45 p.m.

RICHMOND, Calif. — A 15-year-old California girl who claimed she had been kidnapped off the street at gunpoint and raped in the same town where another teenager was assaulted in a gang rape three months earlier told police Sunday she made up the story, authorities said.

The 15-year-old had claimed she was forced Friday night into a car with four males at gunpoint and driven around for several hours before two of them raped her.

But the girl called Richmond police around 1 p.m. Sunday and told them the story was not true, said Lt. Mark Gagan.

The girl told police Sunday that she had had consensual sex with someone, but needed an explanation for why she was late getting home Friday night, Gagan said.

The girl's accusations prompted a major police investigation in Richmond, where the gang rape of a high school girl outside a homecoming dance made national headlines in October.

Dozens of patrol officers, detectives, forensic technicians and nurses had been working on the investigation since the 15-year-old flagged down a San Pablo police officer early Saturday and claimed she had been kidnapped and raped.

"We took her allegations very serious and spent a lot of time, energy and resources to investigate this," Gagan said.

On Sunday afternoon, police found evidence, including video footage, that confirmed the girl had made up her initial story, Gagan said.

Richmond police are trying to determine what happened Friday night and could pursue statutory rape charges if the person she had sex with is an adult, he said.

Investigators have not determined whether they will pursue charges against the girl for making the false report.

"We don't want to create a situation where people are hesitant to report sex crimes," Gagan said. "On the other hand, this 15-year-old girl knew she was completely fabricating her story and misleading us about what really happened."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... ped-raped/