Los Angeles police descended on Venice High School on Friday, arresting nine students in connection with a series of sex crimes that began more than a year ago and involved at least two female classmates.
All but one of the arrests were on campus; authorities were attempting to locate five other students. The investigation began after a parent reported the allegations on Tuesday.
Nine students were arrested at or near Venice High School and five other minors were being sought for a series of alleged sexual assaults involving two female victims, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
As detectives investigated, they discovered at least one photograph showing sex acts, according to law enforcement sources. A photo that appears to show two teenagers engaged in a sex act has been circulated on social media. Allegations involved both consensual sexual acts between minors and coerced acts, which complicates the case, police said.
Twelfth grader Gabriel Siria said he was on his way to his second-period history class Friday morning when he walked past two school administrators with police officers. He watched as three students were handcuffed in the hallway outside of class.
Law enforcement officials stressed the investigation is still in its early stages and that police made the arrests quickly in an effort to prevent any more incidents.
“We didn’t want to leave the suspects out there to potentially victimize other girls at the school,” Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said. “The last thing we wanted was to have another victim.”
The alleged crimes include sexual assault and lewd acts with a minor. Although the incidents date back to 2013, Smith said, most occurred in the last two months — and as recently as this month. Sources said that several boys were present during at least some of the incidents.
Authorities provided few details about the allegations and declined to identify the boys who were arrested because they are minors, all between the ages of 14 and 17. Sources in law enforcement and at Venice High said some of the boys are members of the high school’s football and basketball program.
The allegations, they said, involved a group of male students working together to pressure girls into having sex. The boys were accused of making verbal threats and threatening the girls’ reputations, according to one of the sources.
A defense attorney who specializes in sex-crime cases cautioned against drawing conclusions early in an investigation, noting that prosecutors have yet to file charges. He said criminal cases involving allegations of sexual assault by juveniles against other juveniles are rare.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-venice-high-school-arrests-20150313-story.html
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