Girl kidnapped off street in Richmond and raped

[alp227]

Source: Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle

A 15-year-old girl was raped by two men Friday night after the assailants and two other men forced her into a car at gunpoint in Richmond, the same city where a high school student was gang raped after leaving her homecoming dance in October, police said Saturday.

The girl attacked Friday was walking to her Richmond home at 5 p.m. when four men in a black Buick pulled up to her on Cutting Boulevard near Stege Avenue, police Sgt. Bisa French said.

The girl did not know the men and refused to answer as they called out to her several times, police Lt. Mark Gagan said.

One of the men then jumped from the car and forced her inside at gunpoint, the girl told police. They drove around for several hours before stopping at an unknown location, where two of the men sexually assaulted her, French said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/16/BA8G1BJBF1.DTL

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The October gang rape at Richmond High School has attracted national coverage in outlets such as ABC News, CNN, and the Associated Press. Sadly, copycat criminals are looking more for the glee of the notoreity than the consequences of never being able to live in normal society ever ever again. Hopefully the justice system will arrest, indict, and incarcerate these monsters.

[niyad]

1. horrible, just horrible

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. What a nightmare for her!

:cry:

[depakid]

3. Two fatal shootings in Richmond as well last night- 3 the night before

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/16/BAOU1BJ8DT.DTL

[golfguru]

4. Life without parole is justified in such cases

there is simply no excuse for brutality on innocent victims.

If the victim is murdered after rape and torture then
the criminal(s) should receive death penalty

[Piewhacket]

5. According to my Richmond source who lives and works there....

Richmond CA

This is not a pretty picture. Most of Richmond is relatively quiet residential. But for other
areas of the city Its a socio-economic meltdown. Richmond CA is a town with no racial majority.
School is out and starts again next Tuesday.

Downtown Richmond is predominantly Black and Hispanic is seeing high unemployment (on the order of 25%+)
with low literacy rates (many with insufficient literacy to apply for jobs on a computer, many turned
away from federal training programs). Schools rank among the lowest in the state (local high schools
like Richmond High or Kennedy High are rated 0 to 1 on a scale of 10).

In residential cul-de-sacs groups of primarily males are seen milling around during the afternoon.
Gangs are a significant component of the society, so that different areas of town are delineated by
different dress (eg baseball hats), and males could literally risk death if they walk across town
and enter the wrong areas. Drugs, did I mention drugs? Oh yea.

Girls also "belong" to certain area, and it is concievable the girl here was on the wrong "turf"
or visiting a friend and took a wrong turn. Retaliation is also known, but it could also be
basicly for no apparent reason except "opportunity".

Of juvenile offenders paroled or released in Contra Costa County (750 sq miles) approximately 55% (!!!)
are paroled/released in RICHMOND (5 sq mile area). Over 100 sex offenders living within 1 sq mile of
the city hall. No present info on prison releases, but one can guess. A cauldron.

The recent notorious High School rape (the main suspect is still at large) is a shocking symptom
of the deteriorating conditions, which have clearly overwhelmed police and community leaders.
Heroic efforts by some leaders to turn at least some away from the destructive culture...
and most kids do get through ok (but with poor educations). But the bad apples seem very bad indeed.

To be fair it is rumored that nearby "flatlands" of Oakland are far worse, (but no one seems willing to go
there to find out).

No education, no money, no respect for for others, no respect for themselves, inadequate policing,
deteriorating economy, abused and abandoned ...

Heinous Rape??? Well, what should we be expecting in these conditions?

[FrenchieCat]

6. Richmond has always been a harsh place, depending on the neighborhood.....

I went to high school in Richmond (JFK High School), and although I graduated over 30 years ago, the Richmond I knew has only changed midly, with an influx of Hispanics over 15 years ago, but basically the further west one goes, the worse the areas get.

As for the Oakland Flatlands, I know them well too (I lived there for a short while), as my church is located on 85th and International Avenue, which is right in the center of East Oakland...which is probably the worse part of town. Actually, the crime rate in Oakland has dropped; serious crimes by 13 percent, and the murder rate has gone down by 17%.

Oakland has the 3rd highest murder rate in the country and Richmond is 14th. Richmond was 9th in 2008.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13850234?nclick_check=1

Of course, the Richmond and Oakland Hills are untouched by any of this...as this is where the Million dollar houses can be found, with a killer view of the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

I always prefered Berkeley....and I lived there as well.

[Piewhacket]

8. Ah, then my source speaks truth.

You're a Kennedy High grad? That school is smack in the middle of things.
And 85th in Oakland... geez. San Leandro must seem a million miles away.
I definitely believe you when you say Richmond was rough even 30 years ago.
Things have not improved. Your old neighborhoods could use some help.

I came from the other side of the tracks. Sacto. Actually, I didn't know my school
was segregated, I just thought everybody in the world was white, hey!
(a long time ago and far, far away).

If things could be turned around there at Kennedy... that would seem a great victory.
A number of community leaders are trying, but they are pretty desperate.
I have met some of the local teachers, who seem to me TRUE HEROES.
They still care. They still give. Yet the problems are huge.

[Cleita]

14. Seems like those million dollar houses on the hills would be a good place

to start taxing to bring our state back, not only in the Bay Area but down south as well, where the houses can be multi-millions in worth. Then maybe some of that money can be used for social programs to address the ills of the inner cities.

[KamaAina]

20. But if we destroy Prop 13, your grandma will end up living on the street!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Delphinus]

7. Those are

very depressing statistics.

Thank you for shedding light on the area.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. This stuff happens everywhere

The hidden stranger rape statistics in quiet college towns are abysmal. Think of your big land grant universities. Women are pulled into backyards and raped all the time.

We have a long way to go.

[gardenista]

10. The other side of the tracks

or the other side of HWY 580, is where I live, but I'm a resident of the City of Richmond, the part with the views (though our view is of the Chevron Refinery). Our little neighborhood is a tight-knit community where we all know each other, our dogs, our kids... And our exposure to what is happening in the Iron Triangle is mainly through the occasional gang sign graffiti, but we work hard to keep our neighborhood safe.

There are many, many good people here, who are trying against all odds to make positive changes, but the assessment in the OP about the worst parts of Richmond is pretty much on target. There are so many reasons and factors involved- poverty, a school system that's been strangled by Prop 13 for years, the influence of massive industrial corps on the mostly inept City Council, creating a true culture of corruption...

Now we are going to be the beneficiaries of a massive tribal casino, which will supposedly bring more jobs, but my wager is on more guns, drugs, and prostitution, all thanks to the desperation of local government to bring in revenues. I don't know the answer, but I hope that people here keep trying.

edited to say: Ooops, I got confused about the OP, and meant to respond further downthread.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. This is why there should be security cameras on every street corner

If only for the deterrent


If criminals knew that they would be on camera when abducting that young woman it is a pretty fair bet that the assault would not have happened, and if it did happen there would be enough evidence to find and convict them for their crimes.




I am sorry if I present myself as unfeeling toward the horror this victim was forced to endure, but if we had done what I support years ago then maybe she would not have been put through that hell.

[anonymous171]

13. People can cover their faces you know. nt

[Motown_Johnny]

22. and the license plate, and the make, model and color of the car...

and if there is one on every corner it might be possible to check video from multiple cameras to follow the vehicle back to where it was last parked.


Also, if the men had their faces covered to begin with the poor girl would have known to run right away instead of letting them call to her for some period of time until they felt comfortable that there was nobody watching and could grab her.



IMO there is no reasonable argument against ubiquitous security cameras so long as they can only be used in felony cases or to help find missing persons/children.

[Odin2005]

12. OMG, monsters!

:cry:

[Newsjock]

15. IMPORTANT UPDATE: Richmond girl says she made up rape story

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A 15-year-old girl today recanted her report that she was kidnapped at gunpoint off a busy Richmond street and gang-raped on Friday night, admitting that she made up the story because she was late getting home, police said.

... But today at 1 p.m., the girl who reported being raped on Friday contacted Richmond detectives, said Lt. Mark Gagan, a department spokesman. On a telephone call that included her family, Gagan said, the girl confessed she had fabricated her story.

"The victim made statements changing her story from a forcible kidnap and rape at gunpoint to saying she was with people she knew and had made up the story because she was late getting home," Gagan said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/17/BA6O1BJJSR.DTL&tsp=1

[bevoette]

16. omfg - wtf is WRONG with people?? (nm)

[mzteris]

18. what was her condition when the policeman

found her?

[sendero]

19. A study i read.

.... sorry no link it was a few years ago - concluded that about 40% of all rape allegations are made up.

[vadawg]

21. not sure of the stats but its a problem, it wastes manpower and can ruin lifes

not sure if there is any way to find a happy balance to stop the false accusations as you have the issue of some victims being believable and others totally unbelievable and with having both being true victims or making it up.

[alp227]

23. wow...that is effed up.

She's sunken to Richard Heene's level. Just as much as her supposed attackers would've sunken to the high school rape suspects' levels.

[mzteris]

17. selfdelete