So, I’ve been holding off on posting this because I didn’t know quite what to say…I STILL don’t, but here goes. Apparently, last Saturday, a 15-year-old girl was gang raped by a group of guys animals for two and a half hours on the campus of Richmond High School in the Bay Area in California, while a homecoming dance was going on inside. There was plenty of security inside, along with parents and school officials, to make sure that there was no violence, at the dance, but none outside. The girl left the dance and was going to meet her father to go home when a male “friend” asked her to walk with him to another (secluded) part of the campus. There, they met a group of people who had been drinking. She was then robbed, beaten and brutally raped. And if that was not horrible enough, “As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, police have said, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it.” Some put that number as high as 20. Some of the “bystanders” stopped to participate in the rape, and even recorded the brutal rape on their cell phones. WHAT?!

The girl was finally found, not because someone saw what was going on and called the police, but because “someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene talking about the incident,” called it in, according to police. How heartless can you be? Oh, and good luck prosecuting the “bystanders” though, as “A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to cases in which the child is 14 or younger.” I am beyond disgusted.

According to the article, “three juveniles and two adults are in custody in the rape on Saturday, said the Richmond police spokesman, Lt. Mark Gagan. The three juveniles will be charged as adults, he said.” Police believe she knew at least one of her attackers. What is this world coming to? When our girls can’t even depend on decent people to help protect them? I mean, it’s sad that it has come to this, but we expect criminals to behave like animals. But we expect more of “decent” people, regular citizens, we have to, in order to believe that others will protect us when we can’t protect ourselves. Not necessarily get involved (because many won’t), but at least, call the police. I guess, “decent” people and criminals have one thing in common- you certainly can’t tell by just looking.