I am so appalled as I write this that I can barely contain myself. A 15 year old girl was brutally gang raped at Richmond High School in California by at least 4 males for TWO HOURS. As she was being raped, the word got out and more and more people showed up… to WATCH! In the end, there were reportedly FIFTEEN bystanders who stood by and watched her be sexually assaulted so bad that she had to be life-flighted to the nearest hospital.
Can you imagine this poor young girl being gang raped and hoping and praying for someone to see what was going on? People start to come and she thinks “Thank God, they’re going to save me!” The next thing she knows some of those hopeful “saviors” become her rapists. As more and more people come, she realizes that she is on show and not one person out of the 15 bystanders is going to do a damn thing to end this. They watch for TWO HOURS. They WATCH for TWO HOURS…without a word to stop it; without a call to the police; without a text message to a parent; WITHOUT A THING!!!
Every single boy who raped her, as well as every single accomplice who watched, should be arrested and sent to jail. When they sat there for TWO HOURS watching that crime, they took part in committing it. There will now be a thousand articles about the bystander effect to explain this horrendous incident. I’m sure the parents of the teens watching will cling to this as an excuse for their son WATCHING FOR TWO HOURS while this young girl was being brutally gang raped. There is no excuse. Every single parent, whose son watched this crime and did nothing, should be walking their son to the closest police department and putting his butt in jail. There is NO excuse for becoming a spectator to gang rape as though it was a sporting event.
I send my deepest condolences to this girl’s family and to the girl herself. I am so sorry for the evil that has touched your family. I encourage everyone to keep this family in their thoughts and prayers.
CHALLENGE: Have the courage to get involved when things are happening right in front of you. If you know of any of the boys who did this—call the police, tell your parents or tell a teacher. Do not be silent. Implicit in your silence is acceptance. Your inaction–IS ACTION.
For more information follow the link.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html