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.

72 comments Add your comment

JB

October 27th, 2009
11:12 am

I am outraged! Those people who watched should be arrested and prosecuted for failure to report such a sadistic crime! How can you people have a dance and not moniter the school or its grounds- how can the students not report it. I am horrified and angered that this could have happened at all- the school knows there could be alcahol- we even have a cop at our high school who patrols the parking lots all the time, and we are just a small town. I hope that girl files charges left and right and holds the school responsible for not being responsible enough to walked the grounds with constant servailance. This should never have happened and cannot happen again.

JB

October 27th, 2009
11:14 am

you scum make me sick-you should be arrested as well and sent to jail for it.

mystery poster

October 27th, 2009
11:46 am

This reminds me of that famous psychology experiment, where the woman was beaten and murdered while everyone in the city heard her cries for help. I think it was in the ’60s and her name was Kitty. Anyone remember?

Please do not misconstrue this comment to mean that the victim in any way shape or form caused this. She did not, and no-one deserves to have such an awful thing happen. However, like Sgt. Rose (View from the Cop) says, do not leave your purse in the “steal me” position or leave your laptop visible on the front seat of your car.

Please impress upon the young women in your life that alcohol will impair their judgment and may get them into situations that they may not be able to get out of. Had she not been drinking, she may have been able to escape. She was meeting her dad for a ride home, he was probably not that far away.

V for Vendetta

October 27th, 2009
11:57 am

I hope Arne Duncan bases my pay on the achievements of students like this. I can’t wait.

Karen

October 27th, 2009
12:07 pm

I am too outraged. In response to Mystery comment. Even if she was drinking she didn’t deserve to be raped. How about parents of sons raise them to be respectful and that rape is a crime. They don’t get to “have it and take it” because she was drunk. They are monsters and not young men. Blame lays right there.

jim d

October 27th, 2009
12:27 pm

“gang initiation rape.”

Why do so many find this so difficult to grasp? It has been going on for years. Seems to happen at Home commings and proms.

While everone is outraged perhaps it would be a good time to quit trying to educate everyone and get these pukes out of our schools.

jim d

October 27th, 2009
12:33 pm

personally, I’d have no problem taking them out of society all together

high school teacher

October 27th, 2009
12:49 pm

Karen, these sons probably don’t have parents who raise them, therefore the trouble.

V, I’m with you. Perhaps we can receive merit pay if students of this nature only assault one person at school in the calendar year instead of three – hey, that’s 66% improvement, right?

Sarah

October 27th, 2009
12:55 pm

I don’t think Mystery was saying that it was her fault. However, some of the choices she made put her in this position. The people who beat and raped her need to be put under the jail for at least one lifetime. I would hope that I reacted better if I saw a crime being committed.

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
1:00 pm

I wonder what the demographics of the rapists were…Hmmmmm?

Noy Blaming da Victim

October 27th, 2009
1:03 pm

@mystery your point well taken. who is this classmate who invited a 15 girl to the courtyard to drink alcohol? parents are we teaching our children and at what age? Parents we must say what we mean and mean what we say; if you don’t inform yours someone else will…education-”let’s skip class;drugs-”hit this man its’ da bomb;alcohol-”take it to the head”;sex-”girl you know he got money get paid”;gambling/drugs-”paper chase get that money”;lying, stealing, cheating,etc…Parents please stop thinking that you are putting ideas in your children heads if you talk to them. Ask yourself how much info did you get from friends by 15 that your parents did not share with you? Make that change

mystery poster

October 27th, 2009
1:31 pm

@Karen:
I am not saying she deserved it, just like people who leave their laptops visible in their cars or prominently wear expensive jewelry deserve to be robbed. I’m just saying that sometimes people make decisions that MAY make them more likely to become victims.

No one deserves anything like this.

mystery poster

October 27th, 2009
1:34 pm

OOPS, …people who leave their laptops visible in their cars or prominently wear expensive jewelry DO NOT deserve to be robbed.

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
2:11 pm

Whats sad is that the liberal media ignores stories like this to promote “diversity”. The ones who pay are the ignorant young girls like this one that never knew (before something happens to them) how violent and un-moral these black/ mexican thugs could be.

Maureen Downey

October 27th, 2009
2:16 pm

The Truth,
Not sure how race is a factor. In my first job at a suburban newspaper, I covered two gang rape cases, both involving white teens. One victim was a 16-year-old special education student. The other was a girl who was raped at a party by male classmates. I will check stats on rapes shortly and report back.
And this story certainly is not being ignored. It’s being widely reported, considering that it happened in California and it’s being reported in an Atlanta newspaper.
Maureen

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
2:28 pm

Stories like this one are why our ancestors worked so hard to keep white areas free of blacks and mexicans. in fact its the same way with muslims in Europe. For centuries the Christians fought hard to keep the Muslims out. Now Europe is on the way to becoming majority muslim in our lifetime, and of course the Ultra Liberal media in Europe covers up the hundreds of gang rapes of white girls by immigrants.
In fact they never tell the ethnicity of the perps over there, but you can guess what they are when their names are printed. They are called “youfs” to justify their behavior as (just some kids playing around, not dangerous people) in order to quiet down the outrage.

In fact, ultra liberal Sweden went from being one of the safest countries in the world when it was majority white, to having the most rapes in Europe due to mass immigration from 3rd world countries.
Europe is so backwards that even tho native Europeans are already having a hard time finding jobs, the EU plans to import 50 million Africans into Europe for “job promotion”.
These foolish liberals in charge clearly care nothing about the safety of their native people, they only care about staying in power.

PRECIOUS

October 27th, 2009
2:32 pm

IT HURTS MY HEART TO HEAR PEOPLE HURTING PEOPLE THIS WAY AS A CHRISTIAN WOMAN ITS JUST SICKENING TO HEAR I MYSELF HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN RAPED. NOBODY DESERVES THIS AND IF I WAS THE ONE WALKING BY YOU BETTER BELIEVE I WOULD CALL THE POLICE TAKE PICTURES OR PREPARE MYSELF TO GO OVER THERE AND FIGHT THEM GUYS MYSELF!!!! I LIVE IN CHICAGO AND I HAVE SEEN THIS RIGHT OUTSIDE MY DOOR AND I HAVE HAD TO FIGHT PEOPLE AND EVERYTHING AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN. NO WOMAN SHOULD WATCH ANOTHER WOMAN BEING RAPED AND NOT HELP GOODNESS WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO. THIS WORLD WILL NOT GET BETTER AND I KNOW THAT IT ONLY GETS WORSE BUT ITS TIME FOR ALL NATIONS TO STAND TOGETHER AGANIST VIOLENCE . JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED !!

sandra logan

October 27th, 2009
2:35 pm

I am a high school teacher and we provide chaperones both inside and outside for any event. It is not fun for teachers but we want our students safe. My heart goes out to this young girl and her family. Think of the emotional trauma she will endure for years to come.

PRECIOUS

October 27th, 2009
2:36 pm

HOLD UP NOW YOUR SAYING BLACKS AND MEXICANS ARE VIOLENT AND DANGEROUS PEOPLE. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN HISTORY THE MOST VIOLENT RACE WAS THE WHITE RACE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHITE PEOPLE HAVE DESTROYED SO MANY LIVES FOR OVER 300 YEARS AND YOU CLAIM THE WORLD WAS SAFER WHEN IT WAS ALL WHITE THATS A LIE FROM SATAN HIMSELF. WHITES WERE RAPIST FIRST KILLERS FIRST MURDERS FIRST AND HATEFUL AS EVER AND THEY HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH NUMBERABLE CRIMES. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO HISTORY OF KINDNESS SO YOU NEED TO SHUT YO MOUTH THE TRUTH 2009 PLEASE GO AND SIT DOWN .

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
2:45 pm

Maureen: Thanks for checking the stats instead of automatically labeling me a “racist that dosent know what hes talking about”. I personally have not heard about that many cases of white males involved in gang rape, but i do know about the Univ of Tenn (Cannon Christenson) couple that was gang raped/murdered (both guy and girl raped) by black thugs.
Also there was a case of the white Marine in California that was married to a beautiful black woman. And 4 black marines gang raped her and killed them both.
Neither of these was investigated as a “hate crime”

And of course there’s the West Palm beach case i just read about. Funny how most people have never heard of these cases before… but hey… there’s another special on the evils of Charles Manson murders from the 70’s running on tv for the 500th time.

Maureen Downey

October 27th, 2009
2:50 pm

The Truth,
Here are Department of Justice stats on rape and sexual-based crimes:
Of the crimes surveyed, 56 percent of arrestees were white, 42 percent were black. In addition, victims of rape were about evenly divided between whites and blacks. In about 88 percent of forcible rapes, the victim and offender were of the same race.
Also, to your point that the presence of Hispanics and blacks increases violent crime:
As far back as 1990, Russia had a much higher homicide rate than we did, despite a lack of blacks or Hispanics.
Now, its murder rate per 100,000 people is 19.8. The rate here in the United States is 5.7. (Not that the U.S. rate is great considering that the rate in Japan is .005.)
Maureen

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
3:22 pm

Precious: Whites have NO history of kindness?? Who fought to set the slaves free in America? Who battled in parliment in England to stop the slave trade? White men!

Funny how your families experience of growing up in a dangerous majority black area is MUCH different than my families experience growing up in majority white areas.

Its time for black women to STOP blindly protecting their men, and admit that they are abused and assaulted and exposed to sexual diseases at MUCH higher rates than white women are.
No wonder ive dated so many beautiful black women in Atlanta that perfered white men because “we treat our women better and offer a better future”. As said word by word to me by my black ex gf who i loved very much.
Sadly… Femicide is one of the top killers of black women in the US, yet black women like you continue to make lame excuses and place the blame on others for your own mens / cultures lack of morals.

eb

October 27th, 2009
3:39 pm

I remember learning about the Kitty experiment. No one helped because they all assumed that someone else would help.

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
3:42 pm

Maureen: So blacks make up 42% of rape cases, yet only around 13% of the population. Hmmm?>
And where is the Hispanics in your stats? Truth is, the FBI has lumped everyone that’s not black, as being “white” when it comes to this type of data.
http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html

Here are the worst murder rate per 100,000 people.
(1) Colombia 63
(2) South Africa 51
(3) Jamaica 32
(4) Venezuela 32
(5) Russia 19
(6) Mexico 13

Thanks for helping make my point. God bless.

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
3:43 pm

Maureen isn’t being quite truthful. Here are the REAL stats on rape. Feel free to comment.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cvusst.htm

and here is an excellent article for those who don’t understand statistics or are two lazy to look at the figures:

http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=26368

awaiting cries of racism from our liberal posters 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

free_agent

October 27th, 2009
3:52 pm

@Truth
also add the atrocity at Dunbar Village to the list.
I agree with your assessment.

Kei

October 27th, 2009
4:03 pm

The Truth: So, like, poor countries?

Often it looks like there is a racial link to problems when really it is a financial link. Blacks are 13% of the population in America – what percentage of them live under the poverty line? And no, they’re not there because they’re lazy bums who won’t do an honest day’s work. There is no scientific link between race and aggression. It is entirely a social problem, and guess what – poor treatment of minorities by the white majority contributes!

Not that it ought to matter, but I’m white and live in a country with much, much less racism than America, though we have immigrants from all over and have had for most of our history.

Murder rate: 0.0111524 per 1,000 people
Average: 0.1 per 1,000

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

"The Truth 2009" is Hilarious!

October 27th, 2009
4:08 pm

“Truth”:
Thanks for the laugh today!

As an African American man, working hard in my Midtown office (yep, my company gave me a computer and an office and everything!!!), earning a decent salary to pay the mortgage (on time!!) on my 6,000 square foot home in a wonderful and safe subdivision in South Fulton County (where all the – gasp – Black folks live!!!), where I take care of my three kids (all with “A” averages) and my beautiful African American queen of a wife (a hard working educator), I needed your hysterical commentary as a bit of a respite from a pretty hard, dreary day (the view from my corner office looks pretty bleak out there)!!

Thanks buddy! You should go on tour with your act! Maybe then you could afford move out of the trailer park (or your mom’s basement), get off the government food stamp program and purchase a couple more teeth, too!

Hilarious!

But seriously (and I can’t believe I’m taking time out of my day to address this nonsense) why don’t you check the national statistics on the ethnicity/color of the victims and perpetrators of spousal abuse, and child molestation. Wanna take a guess what “race” takes home first prize?

Sounds to me like you’ve lost too many girlfriends (African American and white) to strong African American brothers. Sorry about that dude!

But for the sake of this great state and nation, I sincerely hope no woman allows you the honor of reproducing. There are already too many vermin of your ilk running around.

Have a good day!

Black Girl

October 27th, 2009
4:12 pm

The Truth, it seems the words that spew from your mouth are far from it! Why is race even relevant in your little mind? Surely there are other blogs that you can post on that will allow you to bash minorities. This is not the place for it.

check your stats

October 27th, 2009
4:12 pm

Oh yeah, and table 42 shows that of 36,000 black victims of rape, 100% were committed by blacks, with 0.0% shown for whites (*less than 10 offenders). So no, it doesn’t go both ways…white men just don’t rape black women, and black men rape both white and black women…white women who are raped identify their attackers as: white men 44.5%, by other 19.6% and by blacks 33.6%. I will leave it to statisticians to parse the numbers, and obviously statistics don’t tell you about an individual person, but as they say: The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet. A black woman will almost assuredly be raped by a black man, and a random black man is more likely to rape a woman than a random white man. There’s just lots more white people, so overall, you’re still slightly more likely to be raped by a white person. Please don’t take these comments as anything but the cold, hard, brutal facts that they are. Everyone should always keep their wits about them and take safety precautions.

lo

October 27th, 2009
4:31 pm

Why does this have to end up a race argument? The fact of the matter is that society as a whole has failed to raise decent human beings. We need to focus on teaching our children the right values, kindness, compassion and empathy so they can make the right decisions and know not to participate in such violence. We also need to provide our children with the right outlets and opportunities so that they don’t turn to drugs, sex and violence. It’s not a race issue people, it’s a humanity issue…

check your stats

October 27th, 2009
4:39 pm

Small clarification: That should be out of 160,270 (rape) victims, not just victims. The next few sentences make if pretty clear, but just to make it crystal clear. And Maureen, I only want to more fully lay out your potentially misleading statistics. It’s all about relative rates, right? If you heard that 50% of murders were committed by left handers, you wouldn’t just say, well people are either right handed or left-handed, so they should have commit equal proportions of crime, would you? I hope not. And I hope you understand my analogy. As a newspaper person, I am sure you know very well the facts that minorities (for a variety of reasons, of course) commit crimes at a rate much higher than whites. Same could be said about poor people, so is it classist to point out that the poor street guy is more likely to break your car window to steal your GPS unit than your middle-class neighbor? If you didn’t print misleading stats, I wouldn’t be here explaining it–not everyone really understands statistics very well, and without breaking them down, you’re really misleading by omission.
And BTW, it isn’t racist to be more apprehensive about seeing a young black man in a hoody on the streets of ATL late at night than a middle aged white man in business attire (or a middle aged black man in business attire, for that matter), it’s just knowing that odds are, the young black man in street gear is many, many more times likely to rob you than the middle aged guy in business attire. I wish things weren’t like that, but it is what it is…ask Kyle Keyser if he is still “colorblind” to race when he’s out on the streets at night.
Okay, that’s all I will say. Let the black racists start attacking my alleged trailer park background, presumed KKK connections, and how a strong, black man must have stolen my girl or something. *Shakes his head*

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
5:04 pm

I see that my earlier post didn’t pass the AJC liberal test. Lets try one more time:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cvusst.htm

and for those too lazy to read heres a nice article:

http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=26368

Maureen Downey

October 27th, 2009
5:40 pm

Spade, Sprang both of your posts from spam.
Maureen

Here are the stats for 1st "check your stats" post

October 27th, 2009
5:47 pm

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus0502.pdf

Table 40. Personal crimes of violence, 2005:

Out of 160,270 rape victims, the perceived race of the attacker was as follows:

White: 32.8%
Black: 48.5%
Other: 15.4%
Not known and not available: 3.2%
Note: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding.

Assuming this website is accurate: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

then blacks make up 12.8%, non-hispanic whites 65.6% of population. I am not a mathematician, but looks like blacks are only 1/5th as populous as whites, yet commit 50% more total rapes than whites, so any individual black is therefore, statistically at least 7-8 times as likely to commit a rape as an individual white. If I am wrong on my stats or math, please correct me. If not, then why do you, Ms. Downey, seem to imply with your statistics that whites are more likely to rape as blacks, instead of many times less likely?

I posted this info earlier but it was “moderated” off, so I’ve edited it down to basically pure facts.

"The Truth 2009" is Hilarious!

October 27th, 2009
5:48 pm

Great post, lo! Well said.

And yes, “check your stats,” I’m assuming that both you and “The Truth 2009″ had your girlfriend taken (willingly, on her part) by an African American man at some point in your lives.

How else can you explain both of you turning this into a racial debate/discussion? The young lady was brutally raped! Period!

But folks like you and “The Truth” — who I’m sure constantly accuse African Americans like myself of always pulling the “race card” — decide to hijack the issue in order to justify your racist feelings/tendencies.

And it’s funny that neither one of you has gone on the Justice Department’s site to check the stats on child molesters, who, I think most sane people would agree, are among the most vile, monsterous beings on the planet. You won’t check because you know that the VAST majority of them are white males.

So I guess that means that the “middle aged white guy, dressed professionally” who passes me on the street isn’t likely to rob me … but he’s probably thinking about molesting my seven-year-old daughter.

Please, hurry up and get a hobby … or better yet, a new girlfriend!

Here are the stats for 1st "check your stats" post

October 27th, 2009
5:52 pm

Statistics from the US Dept of Justice for 2005:

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus0502.pdf

Table 40. Personal crimes of violence, 2005:

Out of 160,270 victims, the perceived race of the attacker was as follows:

White: 32.8%
Black: 48.5%
Other: 15.4%
Not known and not available: 3.2%
Note: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding.

Assuming this website is accurate: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

then blacks make up 12.8%, non-hispanic whites 65.6% of population. Blacks are only 1/5th as populous as whites, so an individual black is therefore, statistically at least 7-8 times as likely to commit a rape as an individual white.
There, I have removed all possible editorial content…lets see if this one will be posted, or if the truth is too dangerous.

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
5:54 pm

@”The Truth 2009″ is Hilarious!

I’m a female.

"The Truth 2009" is Hilarious!

October 27th, 2009
6:11 pm

@let’s call a spade a spade:

A female racist/bigot is a racist/bigot nonetheless. Still don’t know where your anger/hurt comes from.

Perhaps an African American man broke your heart? Rejected your advances? Either way, get over it!

And I’m still waiting for your “report” on child molestation figures from the DOJ. But I won’t hold my breath.

Time to go home to my beautiful African American wife, my wonderful, well-adjusted, smart African American children, in my nice, clean African American neighborhood.

SallyB

October 27th, 2009
6:38 pm

Desensitization!! Our youth have become totally desensitized to violence! THey are not traumatized or repulsed or even shocked . Therefore , they just stand by, watch, and do nothing. Of course, we have to remember that all the way back to Plato the elders have complained about their youth for one thing or another…..though I don’t think anything of this violent nature!

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
6:44 pm

@”The Truth 2009″ is Hilarious!

I looked but I couldn’t find one but I agree that most child molesters are white, you happy? This thread is about rape so I think my post is relevant, how about yours? What is it with you stating at first an African-American stole my girl and then one broke my heart? No offense but I’m not attracted to black men. I’m glad that all is well with you but I’m puzzled as to why you think its important that you let all of us know. What was the point?

bp

October 27th, 2009
7:27 pm

here we go (it was the schools fault)how about the people that watched.where are the parents of these animals?animals breeding animals.go out and do anything you want.you want something take it.not living with parents but whoever happens to be living in their free housing at the time.animals!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lee

October 27th, 2009
7:48 pm

Too many things about this story don’t add up. A girl leaves a dance to meet her father for a ride home, takes a detour along the way, drinks “a lot of alcohol”, and then is found two hours later.

Sorry. Most likely, this young “lady” was outside partying with her buds and got involved in some perverse gang initiation – you know, where she has sex with all the male members and the females beat the crap out of her.

That’s a more likely scenario to me. But, I could be wrong…

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
7:54 pm

Of COURSE theres more white men in prison for molesting because theres more White people! But what you dont know is that blacks/ hispanics are actually 2-3 times more likely to molest than whites. Never heard of child rape in Africa? (they believe it will cure their AIDS) What rock u been hiding under??

And trust me, id never date a girl that was dumb enough to date black men. I have however, dated beautiful black/asian women that dated ONLY white men.

Did you know that over 100 minorities a DAY in the US get HIV? And the majority of the cases are straight/bi Black men giving it to black women??
AIDS and Femicide, 2 of the top killers of black women in the US.

And trust me, a successful black business man is of no threat to me at all. If more young blacks wanted to be like Obama than like 50 cent, then black society would get more respect from other races. But until then, the truth is the ugly truth. Sad you cant admit it… because the majority of the time, its your own women that pay the cost for your coverup.

Lee

October 27th, 2009
8:06 pm

Let’s see, this school is 76% hispanic, 12% black, 7% asian, and 2% white.

’nuff said.

Lee

October 27th, 2009
8:07 pm

NOT an experiement!

October 27th, 2009
8:30 pm

Kitty Genovese was NOT the name of an experiement, but I real human being killed in NYC. Her cries while being stabbed appeared to go unheeded, and she died. The story went national as a perceived example of the callousness of NYC. As a result of this, many psychologists began to study what has been called ‘ the Bystander Effect.’ Google is your friend!

RJ

October 27th, 2009
9:11 pm

@let’s call a spade a spade, if you don’t think it’s relevant to mention molestation on a blog about rape, when should you mention it? What would you call a grown man having sex with a 5 year old, consensual?!

This was a horrendous crime. Regardless of the color of their skin, they are sick individuals that should be punished.

And @The Truth 2009, President Obama is bi-racial, which means he’s 50% white. If YOU choose not to respect the black race, so be it. I for one could care less what you think about my race. I doubt that many within your own “race” respect you anyway.

The Truth 2009

October 27th, 2009
9:30 pm

I like Obama even tho i dont agree with some of his views. He’s a standup man. If more blacks were like him our nations cities would be MUCH safer places. How come when someone says something critical their either a Racist (anyone white) a Uncle Tom (Bill Cosby for example) or a “hater”.
If probably smoke one with ya RJ…. i even hoop. But no doubt, blacks do more crime and beat/kill their women much more often. And there have been hundreds of baby rape cases in South Africa in the last 15 years…. by black males. So clearly any race can be a scumbag molester as well.
Just goggle “Black women Femicide” , or “baby rape Africa” if you doubt me.

And seriously, blacks need to get over being criticized.. the truth is the truth.

lets call a spade a spade

October 27th, 2009
10:00 pm

@RJ
But the article wasn’t about a grown man having sex with a 5 year old now was it?

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.