Police: Gang rape outside school dance lasted over two hours - Page 3

DaemonSeid · #1 10-28-2009, 11:35 PM

from the article:

A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under.

"We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing," Gagan said. "The law can be very rigid. We don't have the authority to make an arrest."

PeppyGPhiB · #2 10-29-2009, 02:07 AM

Anyone seen "The Accused" with Jodie Foster?

If some people literally stood there and watched the act for two hours, and the rapists knew it, I would be surprised if a prosecutor did not try to assert that by standing there and watching, they were participants/conspirators. They may not have been required to stop it, but watching it for two hours amounts to acting as an excited audience to the rapists' performance. Their presence was enough to egg on the rapists. By hanging out, they probably drew out the awful attack and attracted more rapists to join in.

And I saw today that one of the guys arrested is 32? What the hell were these older men doing on the grounds of a high school homecoming dance? I also think it's sad that this girl was supposedly walking somewhere to get picked up by her dad...where was she walking to? I just thought it was kinda weird that her dad wasn't picking her up in front of the school or something.

Kevin · #3 10-29-2009, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Anyone seen "The Accused" with Jodie Foster?

If some people literally stood there and watched the act for two hours, and the rapists knew it, I would be surprised if a prosecutor did not try to assert that by standing there and watching, they were participants/conspirators

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly. To get a conspiracy charge, you have to have a 'true agreement' between the defendants to do the crime. There's accessory after the fact, but obviously, that doesn't work.

I just can't think of anything to charge these folks which don't have elemental holes you could drive a Mack truck through. That said, I don't know diddly about the California penal code, so I very well could be missing something.

epchick · #4 10-29-2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

If some people literally stood there and watched the act for two hours, and the rapists knew it, I would be surprised if a prosecutor did not try to assert that by standing there and watching, they were participants/conspirators.

I know it's a stretch, but couldn't they also be charged with something close to child pornography? Cause I mean the girl was 15, and even though you aren't watching it through a TV/computer screen, it is pretty much the same thing. Especially if there was that big an age difference (like someone mentioned one man was 32).

DaemonSeid · #5 10-29-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epchick

I know it's a stretch, but couldn't they also be charged with something close to child pornography? Cause I mean the girl was 15, and even though you aren't watching it through a TV/computer screen, it is pretty much the same thing. Especially if there was that big an age difference (like someone mentioned one man was 32).

I think if they filmed it and it was distributable, yes.

Not sure if watching a live sex act (no matter how heinous) is 'porn'.

Kevin · #6 10-29-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epchick

I know it's a stretch, but couldn't they also be charged with something close to child pornography? Cause I mean the girl was 15, and even though you aren't watching it through a TV/computer screen, it is pretty much the same thing. Especially if there was that big an age difference (like someone mentioned one man was 32).

Most, if not of those laws require that the act be stored on some sort of recording medium. Also, some states have wonky definitions of who is a child and who is not.

SydneyK · #7 10-29-2009, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

Most, if not of those laws require that the act be stored on some sort of recording medium. Also, some states have wonky definitions of who is a child and who is not.

lol @ "wonky"

It's interesting that sex acts aren't considered porn unless they're recorded somehow. I guess I never really thought much about the definition of porn.

ASUADPi · #8 10-29-2009, 11:01 AM

Not that I'm a lawyer, but it seems like anyone who witnessed and did nothing could be charged as an "accessory" to the rape. Which if that is the case, and they find the witnesses, they should all be charged as accessories.

JBaby1981 · #9 10-29-2009, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

Not that I'm a lawyer, but it seems like anyone who witnessed and did nothing could be charged as an "accessory" to the rape. Which if that is the case, and they find the witnesses, they should all be charged as accessories.

I agree whole heartedly with this, I understand that there are laws put in place and that one must abide by them (ie. children 14 and under) but given the type of crime, the length of time of the crime and how many bystanders there were, surely a good lawyer will find some type of loop whole in past cases won or lost. Its just completely unjust to say that these onlookers are in no way responsible for what happend to that young lady. If it were someone we all knew or were close to, surely we would all see it that way.

I.A.S.K. · #10 10-29-2009, 04:50 PM

The rapists need to suffer for the acts they committed. The other 15 people who watched should be persecuted. They may not be able to put them on trial, but there is always the trial of public opnion. They should suffer at the very least extreme public embarassment for watching this happen.

I do not agree that the students should not be allowed to have social functions. The kids who were inside the dance behaving shouldn't have to pay for the actions of these arseholes. They should also put much more money in to security.

deepimpact2 · #11 11-12-2009, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I.A.S.K.

I do not agree that the students should not be allowed to have social functions. The kids who were inside the dance behaving shouldn't have to pay for the actions of these arseholes. They should also put much more money in to security.

Sometimes you have to do extreme things to get the attention of others. That includes punishments that may seep over onto innocent students. But I think this situation is horrible enough to warrant that. Plus, if we are really honest with ourselves, most of the parents probably wouldn't allow their child to go to another school dance at this school.

Kevin · #12 10-29-2009, 05:54 PM

What a terrible idea -- opening a criminal prosecution just to torment someone who is guilty of no crime, especially when the prosecutor knows for a fact they're not guilty. If that indeed happened, the prosecutor ought to lose her law license.

Sometimes the justice system doesn't produce just results. You can't play CalvinBall with the criminal justice system.