A 13-year-old Minneapolis girl was gang-raped by four teenage boys this past weekend at a residence in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, police said Tuesday.
The boys -- one 16, two 15 and one 13 -- were charged Tuesday in Ramsey County Juvenile Court. Each faces two charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one of committing a crime for the benefit of a gang. Police said they believe the rape may have been part of a initiation into a Hmong gang called the Mafia Gangsters.
A Hmong community leader said the brutal nature of the crime will be a particularly hard blow in her tight-knit cultural community.
"I think the community has a very good sense that this is an individual act, but we are very communal. In a sense, we feel that all children are our children," said Ilean Her, executive director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.
The girl had been hanging out with the boys and drank with them, police say. But her cooperation ended when they began biting, slapping and punching her, eventually raping her, police spokesman Peter Panos said.
If the rape was part of a gang initiation, it wasn't the girl who was being "jumped in" or initiated into the gang, Panos said. She claimed to already be a member of the Mafia Gangsters, a local Hmong gang, he said. Instead, it's possible it was the 13-year-old boy who was being initiated into the gang, he said.
"For gangs, that's when they try to catch them, right around that age," Panos said. "They're looking to see who they are, trying to find something to belong to, an identity."
Police have had previous contact with at least two of the juvenile suspects, he said.
The suspects, who are in custody, made their first court appearances Tuesday. Motions have been filed to certify the 16-year-old and the two 15-year-olds to stand trial as adults; the first hearing on those motions is scheduled for March 17. A trial for the 13-year-old is scheduled March 20.
http://www.startribune.com/local/st...rksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
I posted this to see what everyones response is to this.
I am really starting to loose hope for much of the future in america unless things start to change drastically and soon.
-Sean
The boys -- one 16, two 15 and one 13 -- were charged Tuesday in Ramsey County Juvenile Court. Each faces two charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one of committing a crime for the benefit of a gang. Police said they believe the rape may have been part of a initiation into a Hmong gang called the Mafia Gangsters.
A Hmong community leader said the brutal nature of the crime will be a particularly hard blow in her tight-knit cultural community.
"I think the community has a very good sense that this is an individual act, but we are very communal. In a sense, we feel that all children are our children," said Ilean Her, executive director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.
The girl had been hanging out with the boys and drank with them, police say. But her cooperation ended when they began biting, slapping and punching her, eventually raping her, police spokesman Peter Panos said.
If the rape was part of a gang initiation, it wasn't the girl who was being "jumped in" or initiated into the gang, Panos said. She claimed to already be a member of the Mafia Gangsters, a local Hmong gang, he said. Instead, it's possible it was the 13-year-old boy who was being initiated into the gang, he said.
"For gangs, that's when they try to catch them, right around that age," Panos said. "They're looking to see who they are, trying to find something to belong to, an identity."
Police have had previous contact with at least two of the juvenile suspects, he said.
The suspects, who are in custody, made their first court appearances Tuesday. Motions have been filed to certify the 16-year-old and the two 15-year-olds to stand trial as adults; the first hearing on those motions is scheduled for March 17. A trial for the 13-year-old is scheduled March 20.
http://www.startribune.com/local/st...rksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
I posted this to see what everyones response is to this.
I am really starting to loose hope for much of the future in america unless things start to change drastically and soon.
-Sean
