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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 18:15:21 GMT -5
CLEVELAND, Texas — On a cell phone video passed among an 11-year-old girl's classmates, authorities say adolescent boys and men in their 20s could be seen sexually assaulting the girl inside a dingy abandoned trailer. A friend went to a teacher, investigators went to the girl and her mother, and authorities say they learned the disturbing images depicted just one of several attacks on the girl last year. Now 18 people — including two of Cleveland's star high school athletes and adults with criminal records — face assault and abuse charges that have horrified and divided their small Texas town. The investigation began in December after a friend of the girl told a teacher he had seen the lurid cell phone video, said Stacey Gatlin, a spokeswoman for the school district in Cleveland, about 45 miles northeast of Houston. Police investigators determined it was recorded inside an abandoned mobile home on the city's northern outskirts, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by several Houston media outlets. The girl told investigators she was raped at the home Nov. 28, over the Thanksgiving holiday break. The girl was first assaulted at a house near the trailer, where several young men told her she would be beaten up if she didn't submit, according to the affidavit. When the aunt of one of the alleged attackers returned home, everyone, including the girl, fled. The group moved to the mobile home, where the assault continued, the affidavit said www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41993963/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/.
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 18:20:21 GMT -5
I've been following this story marjar since I read news from my home state/city.... it's horrifying...
the Houston paper and Houston news have been following it closely and I talked to my friend who lives there....she says more and more just keeps coming out about how many, the filming, and all the missed chances for someone to have stepped in and saved the little girl....
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 18:27:26 GMT -5
This is a disgrace and I hope all guilty parties are prosecuted to the fullest, but what does it have to do with politics?
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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 18:30:33 GMT -5
This is a disgrace and I hope all guilty parties are prosecuted to the fullest, but what does it have to do with politics? Crime, the system failing, possible results of cut backs in social services. Politics.
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 18:31:27 GMT -5
Why not let a mod make that call if necessary ed.... last I saw you weren't one and you don't get to decide if something is relevant to this board or not....
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 9, 2011 18:33:20 GMT -5
Good grief! That poor child! Thankfully, a young man had the courage to report what he'd seen to someone who could do something about it. That little fellow deserves some major kudos! Now, we can only hope the child gets the care she needs to deal with the trauma she's suffered.
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 18:35:32 GMT -5
That's why I asked it as a question, which wasn't directed at you, by the way. Defensive much?
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 18:36:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the reasonable response, by the way, marjar...good point.
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 18:38:31 GMT -5
Cleveland isn't a tiny town, but it's definately small by Houston standards. This has created all sorts of issues in the town with folks picking sides. There were missed chances for people who knew what was happening to do something....they were either too frightened or too involved.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 18:39:33 GMT -5
How do you pick a side here?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Mar 9, 2011 18:43:35 GMT -5
This is a disgrace and I hope all guilty parties are prosecuted to the fullest, but what does it have to do with politics? Crime, the system failing, possible results of cut backs in social services. Politics. The thread and subject matter is appropriate for this board. Tennesseer/Moderator
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 18:46:43 GMT -5
How do you pick a side here
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I don't know how anyone could support the accused, but they do have support from some people in the town.....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 18:49:17 GMT -5
People are taking the side of boys who raped an 11 year old? An 11 year old cannot consent... if an 11 year old is seeking sexual activity it is generally a sign of earlier molestation.
Was she with the foster parents when it happened? The foster care system everywhere is bad, but i've heard some incredibly bad things about Texas' foster care... or do you mean she is in Foster care NOW?
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 18:49:32 GMT -5
Patstab, my friend in Houston was telling me she's heard the same kinds of things.... "why was the girl out alone", "the boys are atheletes and 'good' boys"..... and it really has created problems in Cleveland beyond the obvious criminal ones....
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 9, 2011 18:51:56 GMT -5
The little girl is only 11 years old. I don't care what the circumstances were, every one of those guys knew what they were doing was wrong, wrong, wrong ... unless there were 11-year-old boys involved. I'm sorry, but I can't find any reason to blame the victim here. If her parents weren't supportive of her, or there for her, that's their problem. If she was walking alone, who hasn't? To me, the point is ... did these guys know what they were doing was wrong? Damn right they did!
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 19:45:16 GMT -5
It's very interesting to contrast these responses with the ones we saw on the thread about the reporter who was gang raped in Egypt. Apparently, the characteristics of the victim DO have an impact on how she is treated...I wish it weren't so...I say rape is rape is rape and there should be zero tolerance for it under ANY circumstances...
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Post by Mad Dawg Wiccan on Mar 9, 2011 19:58:47 GMT -5
This is a disgrace and I hope all guilty parties are prosecuted to the fullest, but what does it have to do with politics? I'm willing to bet the football stars will be let off the hook.
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 20:05:24 GMT -5
That would be disgusting, I hope it doesn't happen...
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Post by deziloooooo on Mar 9, 2011 20:07:23 GMT -5
That's why I asked it as a question, which wasn't directed at you, by the way. Defensive much? If anything is posted here ed it is open to all..there is a pm that you could have used to the proper overseers
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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 20:51:28 GMT -5
This case is extreme, but when I lived in VA, we had a case of sexual battery and sexual penetration with a object ( as I recall) by a group of kids on a school bus. I believe the youngest of the perpetrators was nine. This is wrong on so many levels.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 20:55:42 GMT -5
Scary isn't it? I mean, i don't understand people...
ed... did someone sanction what happened to that reporter? I don't think it was right in any way. I do think there is probably a greater visceral reaction to the idea of a child being raped.... especially the idea that someone could suggest it was not the boys fault?, but i don't think that means other rape is right?....
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Post by jkapp on Mar 9, 2011 20:57:22 GMT -5
>>I've read that the parents of some of the boys said they are fine young men and this will ruin their lives.<<
That seems to be what most parents' responses are...most likely a defensive mechanism to try and deny that they helped raise a criminal deviant (or maybe didn't do much raising at all - which is why he/she is a criminal deviant).
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 9, 2011 20:58:35 GMT -5
There have been some reports that the reporter in Cairo wasn't actually raped, but was saved from that horror by several Muslim women. I've got a feeling, when she's ready, she'll tell us what actually happened in a feature on 60 Minutes. Until that time, I don't think we know the reality of this issue in its entirety.
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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 21:05:59 GMT -5
It's very interesting to contrast these responses with the ones we saw on the thread about the reporter who was gang raped in Egypt. Apparently, the characteristics of the victim DO have an impact on how she is treated...I wish it weren't so...I say rape is rape is rape and there should be zero tolerance for it under ANY circumstances... I think it is considered worse because it happened in this country, when there was no uprising or civil unrest, and it happened to a child, repeatedly.
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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 21:15:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the reasonable response, by the way, marjar...good point. YW,
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 9, 2011 21:20:59 GMT -5
I'm not sure I remember the responses on the thread concerning the reporter being attacked in Cairo as much different from the responses I've seen here ... at least, not by the posters who've posted in both threads. The woman in Egypt was a woman, not a child. That certainly does put a different light on what happened, but doesn't change the fact that rape is wrong, no matter where, or by whom, or upon whom it's committed. As to the reporter's experience, I'll wait to hear from her what actually happened. I believe we will ... on 60 Minutes.
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 21:22:17 GMT -5
I think it is considered worse because it happened in this country, when there was no uprising or civil unrest, and it happened to a child, repeatedly.
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while I don't like saying one rape is somehow 'worse' than another, I do think there is a difference between a child walking thru her neighborhood and a reporter in a foreign country that is known for their less than female friendly attitudes in the middle of an uprising.... neither female did anything to deserve to be attacked, but there is a different expectation of personal safety in each situation...
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Post by marjar on Mar 9, 2011 21:26:16 GMT -5
I think it is considered worse because it happened in this country, when there was no uprising or civil unrest, and it happened to a child, repeatedly. ********************************** while I don't like saying one rape is somehow 'worse' than another, I do think there is a difference between a child walking thru her neighborhood and a reporter in a foreign country that is known for their less than female friendly attitudes in the middle of an uprising.... neither female did anything to deserve to be attacked, but there is a different expectation of personal safety in each situation... Worse wasn't the right word - perhaps more disturbing.
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steff
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Post by steff on Mar 9, 2011 21:30:01 GMT -5
I didn't even realize that you also said 'worse' marjar.... was more just kinda thinking outloud in regards to ed's comments about the reporter in Egypt.
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Post by ed1066 on Mar 9, 2011 22:50:00 GMT -5
There are different "degrees" for murder (at least from a legal perspective). Not sure about different "degrees" of rape? I know there is a legal distinction between rape and sexual battery. Regarding the reporter in Egypt, I saw several insinuations that "she should have known better" and "she knew what she was getting into" and "she should have stayed away from there". I don't like that. The woman was raped while trying to do her job, which happens to bring her into contact with unstable places. No one outside of perhaps military and law enforcement should expect to be assaulted doing their job.
The crime against this child is heinous. I'm sure the facts will come out at some point and I pray for swift and brutal justice upon the guilty...
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