Three Chicago teens accused of gang-raping a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint and posting the video to Facebook will face charges as adults, Cook County prosecutors announced Friday.
A judge ordered Justin Applewhite, 16, Kenneth Brown, 15, and Scandale Fritz, 16, each held on $900,000 bond. The teens each face one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault.
The alleged sexual assaults took place at Fritz's house Dec. 15, 2012. Fritz had the girl meet him at home, and then took her into the basement and allegedly raped her. According to court documents, Fritz threatened the girl, who had pleaded him to stop, by showing her a gun, and is alleged to have later filmed Applewhite and Brown raping her.
For more details, visit the Chicago Tribune
The girl went to the hospital and notified police the next day, according to Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD. On Dec. 17, the video of the rape was posted first to Brown's Facebook page, and then to the other boy's pages.
Prosecutors said all three boys appear on the footage, in which the girl demands them to stop. Brown reportedly held a gun during sex, and the boys could be heard shouting gang slogans.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times,Fritz provided prosecutors with a handwritten account of the events.
Facebook released a statement to Fox Chicago, which read: "We work with law enforcement to the extent required by law, and as needed to keep the site and those who use it safe."
In November 2012, a group of six men allegedly kidnapped a 14-year-old Chicago girl as she was walking to school and gang-raped her at a house. The suspects in that case were in their early-to-mid twenties, according to Examiner.
The widely-covered Steubenville rape case was particularly notorious for the defendants' use of social media to popularize their sexual assault of an inebriated 16-year-old victim. DefendantsTrent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond, who were found guilty Mar. 17, will serve sentences in youth prison until they turn 21.
No comments:
Post a Comment