Gangrape of girl, 15, dozens watched and did nothing

[warpedskydiver 0]

RICHMOND, Calif. — The gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl on school grounds after her homecoming dance was horrific enough. But even more shocking, police say, was that up to two dozen people watched and did nothing to stop it.

The attack over the weekend rattled this crime-ridden city of 120,000 in the San Francisco Bay area, where one police official called it one of the most heinous crimes he has ever seen. Some students have already left the school in response to the attack.

"It's not safe there at all," said 16-year-old Jennie Steinberg, whose mother let her transfer out of the school Tuesday. "I'm not going back."

The victim, a sophomore, had left the dance and was drinking alcohol in a school courtyard with a group when she was attacked, police said.

Two suspects were in custody Monday, but police said as many as seven ranging in age from 15 to mid-20s attacked the girl for more than two hours at a dimly lit area near benches Saturday night. As many as two dozen people saw the rape without notifying police.

Officers found the girl semiconscious and naked from the waist down near a picnic table. She remains hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

"This was a barbaric act. I still cannot get my head around the fact that numerous people either watched, walked away or participated in her assault," Lt. Mark Gagan said Tuesday. "It's one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer."

Gagan would not comment on rumors that observers took video of the attack on cell phones and may have posted it online.

Manuel Ortega, a 19-year-old former student, was arrested after trying to flee the scene. He is being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape and robbery. Attempts to reach Ortega at the jail Tuesday were unsuccessful.

A 15-year-old student also was booked late Monday on one count of sexual assault, Gagan said.

Late Tuesday, SWAT teams were preparing to make more arrests as police are also offering a $20,000 reward they hope will bring more people forward with any information.

Even though he said as many as two dozen people were witnesses, Gagan said officials are still trying to determine the exact number of people involved.

"I'm confident that the list will expand and at the end of our investigation we will get a clear indication of who was there and who did what," Gagan said.

The attack occurred in a city that has dealt with its share of vicious crimes in recent years, and the school recently approved surveillance cameras after a series of violent crimes. In one case a few years back, a student was shot outside the school, ran inside and died in the then-principal's hands, said Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Richmond is an industrialized conclave near the San Francisco Bay that is known as one of the nation's most dangerous cities. In 2007, Richmond had 47 homicides, and the murder rate led the state for cities with populations of 100,000 or more, surpassing Los Angeles and Oakland.

That number dropped to 27 in 2008 but has spiked to 44 killings so far this year, amid drug dealing and gang activity that has engulfed the town, Gagan said.

Gagan 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 girl had consumed a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said. Gagan said the girl's father tried to call her cell phone, but no one answered.

Gagan said police received a tip about a possible assault on campus from a young woman who heard two males bragging about it. She was found nearly an hour after the dance, which more than 400 people attended, had ended.

Neil Smelser, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California-Berkeley, said Tuesday that the incident could be categorized as "bystander indifference."

"The questions become, 'Why didn't they do something moral to stop an immoral situation? Why didn't they behave morally by calling the police, telling school officials?'" said Smelser, who has written extensively on collective behavior.

"It's very likely that they didn't have any emotional or social ties to the victim," Smelser continued. "If they had any linkage to her, then maybe we'd have a different outcome."

Trujillo said there were four police officers and 15 school site supervisors monitoring the dance. He said there were no problems during the dance inside the school gym, calling it "a success." He said two site supervisors were allowed to leave because they felt they had enough security inside.

But Trujillo called the rape outside on school grounds a "tragic incident."

"We wished this had never happened. This was such a heinous crime," Trujillo said. "We are all going to learn from this."

Student Joseph Machado, 16, said the mood inside Richmond High School on Tuesday was tense as officers were questioning fellow students. Two squad cars were parked outside the main entrance, and school security teams were patrolling the grounds in golf carts.

"Some of my friends were saying, 'What if that happened to me?'" said Machado, whose parents didn't allow him to go to the dance. "This school, this city already has a bad reputation and now this makes it worse."

[Andy9o8 2]

Horrible.

Sadly, not a new trend in human nature:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=%22kitty+genovese%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=%22kitty+genovese%22&fp=79c2456f3a951e6b

[warpedskydiver 0]

I guess people can say whatever they like but since California is so anti gun and pro violence, I guess this should be ignored as an anomaly?

Some people need killing.

Nobody was willing to put a stop to this, and yet they will all soon be voters.

Guess which way they will vote?

Take a guess as to how they view others who cannot defend themselves?

[warpedskydiver 0]

I remember that too.

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

Guess which way they will vote?

OK, Randall, let's play "you said it, not me."

This happened in San Francisco. San Francisco is liberal. Liberals vote for Democrats. It happened in a high-crime neighborhood. People who live in those neighborhoods, if they vote at all, tend to be Negroes, wetbacks and other undesirables, and thus they naturally will vote for Democrats who are soft on crime and give them welfare and shelter for illegally-immigrated wetbacks. Oh, and that one girl in the article who de-registered from the school? A Jew. Pffft. The people who watched this happen and did nothing were dirtballs, but chances are, once they become of voting age, they will vote for liberals and Democrats.

The conclusion is obvious: Liberals and Democrats, who are already on record as supporting the eating of live kittens, also support gang rape and doing nothing to defend helpless crime victims.

There. You need not say any more. Cuz I said it, not you.

[shah269 0]

You know what would quickly clear this up?
Public hangings! All those that partook shall be hung by the neck until dead, and hung Persian style....rope around the neck and slowly raised up none of this snap the neck business.
All those that watched but did not do anything to save shall be treated as adults and sent off to federal prison.

Rape is a crime agents humanity and should be treated as such.

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[warpedskydiver 0]

I said nothing that you did, however do you dispute that I am wrong in how they will vote and what their views will be on many issues?

[Skyrad 0]

I doubt they did nothing, I'm sure that many would have filmed it on their mobile phones. Its a sick state of affairs when society comes to this. (This isn't a dig at the US either as I remember a similar rape of two girls outside Catford McDonalds on a Saturday afternoon over a decade ago in London.)

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[DanG 1]

First of all, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel of decency on this one.

And in response to your thinly veiled insult about the Democratic Party, i'd say most of the scumbags will probably not vote at all, but those that do will most likely vote Democratic. Why? Is it because Democrats support gang rape, crime, drugs, and inner city decay? No, it is because people who live with gang rape, crime, drugs, and inner city decay all around them think that Democrats are more likely to solve those problems (or even care about them) than Republicans. So in these likely voters' minds, it is the Republicans who are soft of gang rape, crime, drugs, and inner city decay,

But that's not what you meant, is it?

- Dan G

[Andy9o8 2]

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I said nothing that you did

Well, there you go, dude - thus, the name of the game. And you play it so well.

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however do you dispute that I am wrong in how they will vote and what their views will be on many issues?

I think it looks lame and idiotic when you and a select few others on here stretch to the most ridiculous lengths to get in a cheap bash.

[warpedskydiver 0]

No cheap bash just an observation.

I am sick of people excusing their kids or young adults because their family member "Didn't do nuffin"

Politicians demonize police and the reason why is their constituents do not like being arrested for things they do.

All of them are innocent you know.


Why is it there was not one single person there that would do something to STOP this?

I will tell you why, because they either thought she deserved it, that it was no big deal, because they wanted to take a turn, or that they didn't think it was any of their business.

And yet I am sure they knew the girl.

[Remster 30]

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Guess which way they will vote?

Have you no shame in using the gang rape of a 15 year old for your little political arousal?

You're disgusting.

Remster

[Tuna-Salad 0]

That is sickening, but the fact she was drinking underage suggests the victim isn't all sweet and innocent..

Cut their dicks off with some dull hedge trimmers

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[Andy9o8 2]

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the fact she was drinking underage suggests the victim isn't all sweet and innocent..

Wow. Are you sure you want to stick to that?

[Tuna-Salad 0]

Yeah.. I'm not saying she asked for it, but I am saying that when shit happens parents try and portray their kids as can do no wrong little angels. In this case she was underage and according to the article had a lot to drink..

She had a choice, meet her father and get picked up or get drunk... Bad decision.. and it might of played out very differently

Sad it happened, but it's not a "woe is me, I did nothing wrong" type story.. hang out with a bad crowd expect bad things to happen

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[Andy9o8 2]

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Yeah.. I'm not saying she asked for it,

Well, you're coming dangerously close to blaming the rape victim, IMO. Bad ju-ju.

[Tuna-Salad 0]

Not blaming anyone, saying that the outcome could of been a lot diff had there been some better decision making. Nobody DESERVES to be raped, and no matter who is at fault doesn't make it right. Might wanna read the entire thing instead of just picking and choosing parts you like

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[peregrinerose 0]

There's a difference between blaming the victim and identifying a chain of events.

The victim was on her way to meet her father ... if she had done what she was supposed to, this would not have happened.

Some people invited her over to drink, she agreed... if she didn't join them, this would not have happened.

She drank a great deal... if she had not, perhaps this could have been avoided (ie, she may have been sober/conscious enough to get the hell out of there when shit hit the fan)

She did not answer her cell when her dad called (did he call during the rape or prior to? If prior, maybe that could have avoided the situation)

Did her father go looking for her at the school? If he did not, possibly that action could have avoided the gang rape.

There was plenty of security inside the school, but apparently no adult supervision outside the school... enhanced security outside the school could have prevented the situation.

This isn't about blaming the victim, but identifying links of the chain that could have been addressed in order to prevent this from happening entirely. I'm sure there are more links, but I have to get ready for work, so don't have time to type them all out. Identifying all the links can help with prevention of future events. As the parent of a 16 year old boy, we had a long talk about this case just last night... how to prevent it, how to react should he come across a situation like this, etc.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Andy9o8 2]

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Might wanna read the entire thing

Oh, I did. But I see your clarification, and I appreciate it.

[kbordson 8]

My thoughts on this sad and disgusting situation.

The victim: as noted above she's not painted to be overly innocent. But how much blame are you going to place on a drugged 15 year old. (and yes... alcohol is a drug - an ILLEGAL drug in her situation) In my book, she is INNOCENT here.


The parents of the victim: Exactly what party was this that this minor child/young adult went to? Was this a high school party or a college party? (sounds like a college party) She had obviously gotten parental approval to go to the party. Did the parent know that there were be alcohol present? Was this young lady instructed on how to act in potentially dangerous situations? When she wasn't at the car at the appointed time, she was called on her phone... didn't answer. What then occurred? Not trying to TOTALLY blame the parents here... but better supervision and better awareness would have been helpful.

The rapists: wow... where to begin. Lets start with the alcohol to a minor... and was her drink even further drugged? This is not a case of date rape or "no means no"... if she was totally drunk and INCAPACITATED that is a BIG FUCKING NO! Any one that got close enough to rape her had to KNOW that she was not in a position to make that decision (regardless of if she was of legal age OR NOT) Now... one could argue that maybe those that raped her were drunk too and had limited decision making capabilities.... if your THAT drunk, you typically aren't able to perform... so that throws that excuse out. Those guys KNEW what they were doing was WRONG. PERIOD.

The "bystanders": depends on how close they were to the event. If the victim was passed out and not screaming/struggling and the bystanders couldn't see her or tell her age... and they thought "well... she's gettin a few" and just wanted to ignore the public acts... arguable guilt there. Should they have done something or at least called the cops? IMO, Yes. But remember the public sex scene in Crank. How many found that scene to be amusing? So... some public sex is ok... but some is not. How close do you get to determine if this one is or isn't ok? And if they didn't get close enough to see that she was incapacitated or couldn't tell that she was a minor... It's easy knowing the situation to have a feeling of disgust and "why didn't someone help her".... but I'm guessing that most of the bystanders didn't know the situation. (or maybe I'm just HOPING that)

[TomAiello 26]

Quote

Exactly what party was this that this minor child/young adult went to? Was this a high school party or a college party?

From the news story, it sounds like it was an official (high) school function, taking place on school grounds, with official supervision (most likely provided by the school, if those things are still run the way they were when I was in high school).

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[kallend 2,148]

So what is new here?

Bystander indifference has been an issue for decades.

Headline might as well have been "Millions bilked out of their life savings, regulators watched and did nothing".

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[birdshit 0]

You are pathetic. Republicans are the ones who are soft on rape.

Al Franken (democrat) sought to pass a bill that would “deny defense contracts to companies that ask employees to sign away the right to sue”.

The only people who voted against this bill were 30 Republicans:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

This isn't a Democrat/Republicant issue, it's a big city issue.

[BillyVance 35]

Absolutely heinous crime, that could have been prevented. She could have stayed at the dance and not drank. Still, there will be a special place in hell for those who took advantage of the situation and for those who just stood there and watched.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Andy9o8 2]

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there will be a special place in hell for those who took advantage of the situation and for those who just stood there and watched.

Those are 2 of at least 3 categories I can think of (aside from the criminals themselves).