How does rape become a spectator sport at homecoming dance?
Again, I have to ask: What is wrong with us?
How could teenagers at a high school homecoming dance stand by and watch the sexual assault of a young girl? We talked about this a few weeks ago after the school bus beating video, but I still am baffled.
Are the teens fearful of repercussions if they protest?
Are bystanders too drunk themselves to realize what is happening?
Or have we shown our children so much violence in movies and TV that they are unfazed when they see it in person?
I understand more and more the reluctance of schools to host evening events. As this story notes, there were seven adults monitoring this school dance, including four police officers. Yet, this crime occurred undetected outside the homecoming dance.
From the Associated Press:
Police believe as many as a dozen people watched a 15-year-old girl get beaten and gang-raped outside her high school homecoming dance without reporting it.
Two suspects were in custody Monday, but police said as many as five other men attacked the girl over a two-hour period Friday night outside Richmond High School.
“She was raped, beaten, robbed and dehumanized by several suspects who were obviously OK enough with it to behave that way in each other’s presence,” Lt. Mark Gagan said. “What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening and failed to report it.”
The victim remained hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Manuel Ortega, 19, was arrested at the scene and was being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape and robbery. He is not a student at the school.
Richmond police Sgt. David Harris said he did not know if Ortega had retained an attorney.
A 15-year-old student also was booked late Monday on one count of sexual assault, Gagan said.
Police 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 victim had drank a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said.
Officers received a tip about a possible assault on campus and found the girl semi-conscious near a picnic table.
Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, said there were four police officers and three school administrators monitoring the dance, but the assault happened away from the gym.
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72 comments Add your comment
lets call a spade a spade
October 27th, 2009
10:02 pm
@The Truth 2009
AMEN!!!
high school teacher
October 27th, 2009
10:02 pm
Can we for a moment forget what color skin the involved parties had and re-focus on the part where people were watching and didn’t try to stop ot or report it?
N Ellis
October 27th, 2009
10:37 pm
Only the sickest of the sick would use this tragedy to spew their racist diatribe. Whatever the race. this is a tragedy.
lets call a spade a spade
October 27th, 2009
10:51 pm
@N Ellis
Please point out the “racist diatribe” that you read here.
lets call a spade a spade
October 27th, 2009
11:05 pm
One more post before I call it a night. People are quick to throw the “racist” word around. Usually when someone is just stating a fact. If you want to hear real racist remarks go to MOST African American blog sites and read the comments! But I digress, lets examine the word racist to see if what N Ellis stated is truthful. Here is the dictionary definition with commentary from yours truly:
rac⋅ism
–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
I don’t recall anyone here stating that.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
Doesn’t the president identify as African American?
and last but not least
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Why is it when you state a fact you are labeled a racist? Good night.
Big Jim Slade
October 27th, 2009
11:39 pm
The school is 78% Hispanic and 10% Black. Next time the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation writes about illegal aliens, remember this fine moment in their ever so proud history. Personally I think we should all thank the Democratic Party for providing American with such an opportunity, and always remember these are the same morons tinkering with health care today.
Remember the fine words of Ted Kennedy in 1965 while debating the Hart Cellars Act, “First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same…. Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset…. Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived nations of Africa and Asia…. In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think…. The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs.”
No, I did not make this up. Nor did you hear it on CNN during “Uncle Teddy’s” funeral.
Big Jim Slade
October 27th, 2009
11:50 pm
History remindes us that Teddy knew exactly what he was doing and was willing to lie about it to achieve his agenda. Not that other politicians don’t, but the sheer magnitude of his audacity makes Obama’s agenda seem almost comical in comparison.
Yet we need to remember two important points. The first, written by G.B. Shaw, is that ““A government with the policy to rob Peter to pay Paul can be assured of the support of Paul.”
The second, from Margaret Thatcher, is a little long but well worth remembering, “I think we’ve been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it’s the government’s job to cope with it. ‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant.’ ‘I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ They’re casting their problem on society. And you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It’s our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There’s no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.”
internet porn run amuck
October 27th, 2009
11:59 pm
desensitization to sex and more specifically, porn, is changing our society. The access to the objectification and abuse of women is at hand.
Call your congressman and ask them to support the creation of the .xxx domain registration. Will allow tighter restrictions and licensing for porn on the internet.
Kevin C.
October 28th, 2009
3:38 am
A triple dose of disgust: For the people doing the act, the people watching and doing nothing, and the people using it as an excuse to post racist comments on this site.
The Truth 2009 is Hilarious!
October 28th, 2009
1:05 pm
To “Truth,” “Spade,” “Big Jim” and any other racebater reading/opining here, this is my last comment on this nonsense.
Maureen posted this story about a brutal rape at a high school homecoming dance. No mention of race and no need to mention it.
But “Truth” decided that this was the place for him to make his racist points about the tendency toward criminal and deviant behavior of African American men, as if he’s an expert on the topic. He further proves his ignorance by stating that “more child molesters are white men because there are more white men in society … but blacks and Hispanics molest children at a higher rate.” This is incorrect! Please check the facts, since you want to use crime stats.
And to FURTHER illustrate his ignorance, “Truth” tosses in anecdotes about child rape and AIDS in Africa. NEWSFLASH, genius, we’re in AMERICA. An obviously deviant, monsterous activity in AFRICA has nothing to do with African American men like me here in America (although we DO need to call it out as deviant and monsterous, just as we need to continue working on our issues here).
Then “Spade” chimes in to back up “Truth’s” non-points, by making the brilliant statement that the story is about rape and not child molestation, so what was my point. Thanks for MAKING my point, “Spade”! The point is/was that the story was about a rape at a high school, period, not about the ethnicity of the perpetrators or the victim, nor about the criminal activity of African American men. However, you and “Truth” chose to bring that up. Why? Because, as I stated and will continue to state, both of you have racist/bigoted tendencies that YOU need to deal with. All the rest of us can do is pray for you.
As for “Big Jim,” it was your “hero” Ronald Wilson Reagan who didn’t just make speeches about it, but actually watered down immigration laws in this country.
I’ll end with this (since both of you want to go there). Do we have issues in the African American community? You bet! Too many children born out of wedlock is our BIGGEST issue because it leads to everything else — kids joining gangs, dropping out of school, irresponsible sexual promiscuity, experimenting with and then continuing criminal activity and drug usage. And all African Americans don’t see everyone who calls this out as a serious problem (Bill Cosby, etc.) as an “Uncle Tom,” no matter what you think. For every African American who feels that way, there is another (like me) who does not and is doing his/her part to address the issue: being a responsible parent to my children, while mentoring/coaching African American kids who do not have a father participating in their lives/growth/development.
So there, I “came clean” about the main problem issue in the African American community. But I’d like to know what “Truth” and “Spade” are doing about the issues plaguing the “white” community: RAMPANT crystal meth usage/production/sales, escalating teen birth rate (while the rate is slowing for African American girls), and the proclivity toward planning/executing mass school shootings (not a HUGE problem, but I was a little concerned when I saw that a few white kids had enrolled in my daughter’s high school this year … just kidding!).
Thanks for reading. Here’s hoping the rape victim is somehow able to move forward and become a happy, well-adjusted young lady, and the perpetrators are punished appropriately.
SET
October 28th, 2009
1:45 pm
Please… Gang rape has been a fact of life in the underclass for over a hundred years in the USA. Read “Makes Me Want To Holler”, Nathan McCall’s Autobiography for a good discussion of black gang rapes in the ghetto. My beef is with adults who create these monstrous public schools and then want sympathy and outrage when this goes public. What do you think goes on in Richmond CA every day??
And there is a reason that the victim is a victim, just as there is a reason the perps were doing it. These reasons are not going away because a few people are actually caught and sentenced to life in prison (and make no mistake what the penalties in CA are for participating in a gang rape – mandatory consecutive sentences for every orifice you penetrate and you also serve for every orifice each other rapist penetrated – which will typically exceed life expectence even for a teen).
If you want underclass life (and gang rape is part of the party) to stop, GET RID OF THE UNDERCLASS.
That’s not going to happen anytime soon, we are manufacturing more of them as fast as we can. And Obamacare – just another form of printing press welfare payments – will grow more of them. If you want less underclass, stop keeping them alive. Stop feeding them, stop keeping them comfortable.
When it’s sink or swim time, people take swimming lessons. We have too many life preservers.
SET
October 28th, 2009
1:53 pm
And as far as the race argument – Get real. Race is crime in the USA. It became far more so after President Johnson’s Great Society legislation when we decided to grow the black underclass. Yes I remember when prisons nationwide were mostly white (and the bastardy rate was a fraction of what it is now). Been awhile. The USA created this mess. USA public policy is what keeps all this pathology going. If we abolished welfare and threw the underclass into starvation, do you think we’d have as many rapes and violent crime? No, we would not. If we armed the taxpaying public do you think we’d have these problems? No we wouldn’t.
All this pathology is directly caused by US public policy. Nowhere else on the planet in human history have we seen pathology like this. Only in Post-1960’s America.
lets call a spade a spade
October 28th, 2009
2:39 pm
@The Truth 2009 is Hilarious!
I’m not white either dude. Why do you think that stating differences are the sign of whiote bigots? Please read SET’s post and quit being so defensive.
lets call a spade a spade
October 28th, 2009
2:41 pm
meant to say white. One more thing before I go; here in Georgia we have a saying “a hit dog will holla” Keep your feet out the aisle and you won’t have to worry about people stepping on them!
KM
October 28th, 2009
3:29 pm
This is a sad, sad world. My understanding — and I hope I am wrong, is that the bystanders will NOT be charged with a crime! UNBELIEVEABLE!!! It should be contributing or conspiracy or something… I know that we are teaching kids that there are no consequences, though. Maybe that is why they think they can do this. At our school, kids have drugs, knives, beat each other up and MORE — the worst punishment is that they go home to their parents… Where I come from, punching someone is battery and it is criminal. Don’t schools have an obligation to report criminal activity to the police???
Maureen Downey
October 28th, 2009
3:49 pm
KM, I wrote this editorial in 1998. It is about a rape murder of a child crime committed by one college student and witnessed by another. The witness could not be charged and never went to jail. The piece explains why. Maureen
David Cash, 19, allegedly saw his best friend, Jeremy Strohmeyer, chase a 7-year-old girl into the women’s restroom of a Nevada casino last year. Cash followed and found Strohmeyer forcing Sherrice Iverson into a stall, his hand clamped over the struggling second-grader’s mouth. Police say Cash peered over the stall and witnessed his friend beginning to tear off the child’s clothes.
Cash walked out of the bathroom and did nothing, even after he later learned that the child had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Strohmeyer goes on trial next week for Sherrice’s murder. Cash begins classes at the University of California, Berkeley.
Despite the brutality of the crime, Cash told the Los Angeles Times, “I’m not going to get upset over somebody else’s life. I just worry about myself first.” He even boasted that the notoriety has helped him get dates.
The only real question in this case should be whether Cash deserves boiling in oil or poison darts. Instead, the debate is over whether Cash can be charged with anything.
Nevada, like Georgia, does not compel average citizens who witness assaults on children to report them. “If in fact he saw what was happening and saw that she was alive and didn’t stop it . . . if that was all he did and nothing else, then it is not a crime, ” District Attorney Stewart Bell of Clark County, Nev., told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It may be a crime in the eyes of God, but not in the eyes of the Nevada Legislature.”
Sherrice’s mother hopes to change that. Yolanda Manuel collected 20,000 signatures demanding that Cash face charges in her daughter’s slaying. A second drive is under way to enact a law in Nevada that would make it a crime for anyone who witnesses or knows of a sexual attack against a minor to fail to alert police.
Such a law should also be considered in Georgia, where only professionals who work with children are mandated to report suspected abuse. “It should be not only a moral responsibility, but a legal responsibility of all of us to protect the children in our society, ” says DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan, who would support a law requiring reporting of any sexual or physical attack on a child.
The existing statute requiring teachers and doctors to report abuse exempts claimants from liability if the report turns out to be unsubstantiated. Morgan recommends that any new law extend similar immunity.
In a perfect world, such a law should apply to all crimes, whether the victim is 7 or 70. But as Morgan observes, “I think we would have better success on legislation mandating reporting crimes against children.”
That’s because requisite reporting would be viewed as a threat to fundamental civil liberties. But those liberties warrant review when they allow Americans such as David Cash to saunter away and ignore screams in the night — especially when those screams clearly come from little girls fighting for their lives.
sean
October 28th, 2009
8:04 pm
Those guys should have their nuts cut off and locked up with people doing life. Let them get a dose of what they gave. The only exception is they’re not innocent. Other countries laugh at our country because we’re too easy. This isn’t new though. It probably happens every few seconds a day. Rape. What can we do? Why stop there.
Darla
October 29th, 2009
11:22 am
Seriously? This is exactly why we don’t properly address half the real problems in this country. We let one person bring up the race bait and we get back into that same old argument and completely forget the topic at hand. Just stop it already. The issue here is where the hell did we go so wrong with this generation that we have so bubble wrapped our kids that we have taught them not to help others? People who saw this watched, had phones, and instead of calling for help, twittered their friends about it! The self-absorbed isolation that things like Facebook and Twitter are doing to our kids, dragging them away from real healthy social interaction within the real world needs to be analyzed and addressed and balanced. Can we take the discussion there please? For all our sakes. Before we completely let our humanity bleed away into the keys of our blackberrys.
W.C. McCall
October 29th, 2009
11:23 am
“ask them to support the creation of the .xxx domain registration. Will allow tighter restrictions and licensing for porn on the internet.”
Nonsense. Support net neutrality (no government “censorship”). Don’t be naive enough to believe you can let the government dictate what you do/read/see. That’s what adult responsibility if for.
SET
October 29th, 2009
11:29 pm
What we are talking about is Misprison of Felony statutes – Laws that criminalize failing to report felonies. There are good reasons we do not normally require people to get involved with the lives of other people. And there are good reasons why we do not require people to run to the government telling tales about other people. But the federal law and the state laws are often different and if a state wants to live differently their population are free to do so. Put it up to a vote I say. Let the people decide how they are going to live.
But for now in CA you normally have no duty to throw a life preserver to a drowning man you are not related to (unless working as the lifeguard). You have no obligation to call 911 because somebody is being slowly murdered in the street (except when you have a relationship with the victim that carries the obligation to protect). Strangers in CA have no obligation to lift a finger for each other. Is that so bad? It’s been that way for over 150 years.
Part of the Western law and culture is that people are responsible for themselves and their family and not for others. When people get in trouble it is strictly their problem if they have no friends. I suppose it encourages people to not be strangers, and to be “friendly” in their community.
As far as this girl – there is a reason she is a “victim” if indeed this wasn’t in some way consensual. I look forward to the prosecution of the animals and I’m confident that despite my disaproval of CA law and it’s failures, in this case their lives are essentially over despite their young age. CA sex laws are draconian and they will certainly be convicted of enough – even if it is consensual – to get life due to the mandatory full consecutive sentencing.
Here 20 year old virgins get 75 to life at 85% minimum time to serve for fondling only if their are multiple victims. I have seen that in court here. When you warn adolescent boys what the penalties are for sex escapades they don’t believe you and do it anyway. So imagine what will happen to the animals we speak of here.
As far as the victim, I hope she has learned not to go drinking with packs of boys without being accompanied by her father or her brother. Too bad that wasn’t taught in school.
Captain Amerika
November 1st, 2009
4:07 pm
this is the consequence of the culture we have in the US now. no one is ever truly held accountable. mothers having babies to baby daddy’s instead of fathers. drugs and alcohol the norm. people breeding to get a check from the fed. and the family unit has evaporated. you talk to young people today, they are so damned self involved and immune to sympathizing with others. this country has truly lost its way. good think madame o’hairy and her ilk got the bible out of the schools. thank god they got the ten commandments off the court house walls. thank god its okay to ‘like children’ like the nambla freaks. seriously, this is the price of liberalism in the culture. an education system that embraces everyone, including freaks. not much hope for our country when people stand around watching this despicable an act occuring and not only dont intervene, but save the scene on their cell for future viewing.
you f’in liberal ACU types have sewn this mess, now the whole of society will reap it’s yeild.
fred
November 2nd, 2009
10:30 am
“How else can you explain both of you turning this into a racial debate/discussion? The young lady was brutally raped! Period! ”
wrong, her race being omitted from every media outlet is a huge issue. if she were black and her rapists were white race would be plastered on the front page. it would be every bit as important as the fact of rape as it would imply a hate crime. these animals got their hands on a white girl and decided they could have their way with their “prize”. rape whitey? who cares, the media won’t even mention her race…thats how afraid they are of the issue. the inconvenient truth is that a white girl hanging out with colored men is far more in danger of being raped than a black girl hanging out with whites.