Girl gang-raped outside high school dance, police say

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ Onlookers laughed, took pictures and even joined in Saturday night during the two-hour gang rape of a semi-conscious 15-year-old outside her high school homecoming dance, police said Monday.

Teams of detectives and school resource officers spent the rest of the weekend

"The crimes perpetrated against this 15-year-old are both startling and horrific," police Chief Chris Magnus said Monday. "We are committed to arresting the perpetrators and to preparing the strongest case possible by aggressively pursuing every lead and utilizing the full resources of the department."

The victim, a student, remained hospitalized Monday with non-life-threatening injuries.

Patrol officers broke up the sex assault just before midnight, arresting 19-year-old Manuel Ortega as he ran from the crime scene, they say.

"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," said Lt. Mark Gagan, a patrol supervisor in the city's Northern Policing District. "What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening, and failed to report it."

Ortega remained at County Jail in Martinez, Calif., on Monday, booked on suspicion of rape and robbery. Detectives believe as many as six other men also raped the girl as she lay semi-conscious on a courtyard bench, also beating her, taking pictures and stealing her jewelry.

Police took at least one student out of Richmond High on Monday afternoon for questioning.

Nobody called police until word of the ongoing rape spread to a house party in the city's North and East neighborhood, where an appalled partygoer felt obligated to phone in the rumor.

"That's just wrong," said senior Class President Gina Saechao, who helped organize the dance, said Monday. "What if it was your little sister? What if it was your mom?"

Officers broke it up, and found the victim semiconscious and obviously hurt. Paramedics flew her to a regional trauma center in critical condition; she stabilized overnight.

The Contra Costa Times does not name victims of sexual assault without their consent.

The girl attended the dance, held in the gym from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. About 400 students attended, with three administrators and four police officers both inside and watching the surrounding parking lot and street.

"Obviously we've had some breakdowns. Obviously, it was not safe because this happened," said Charles Ramsey, a West Contra Costa school district board member. "Should we have had higher awareness, should we have been more vigilant? Probably."

Police say the victim left alone about 9:30 p.m. and walked away from the dance, expecting to catch a ride from her father. Instead, a schoolmate caught her attention from behind a cyclone fence on the north end of campus.

He invited her to join a group drinking and hanging out in a secluded courtyard behind the fence, Gagan said, and escorted her to a short gate from which they made their way back to the group.

The assault began after the girl quickly drank a large amount of hard alcohol and fell over, Gagan said.

Detectives spent the rest of the weekend trying to identify the various participants, some of whom arrived after the gang rape began.

The courtyard is pitch-black at night, making it difficult to see into it from the street.

"(Lighting) is an ongoing issue for all our sites," school district spokesman Marin Trujillo said. "That particular section does have lighting. Could it be better? That's something we're always reviewing."

The school district plans to install new surveillance cameras by January at the campus, a project long in the works. Plans for new fencing have been in the works since March.

"It's unfortunate that we weren't able to have this finalized a little bit sooner," Ramsey said. "But we've been on top of this issue (safety). Our board is working very proactively to make sure we stay on top of the issue."

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