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    14 men charged in sex assaults of Texas girl

    LIBERTY, Texas (AP) — More than a dozen men accused of taking part in a series of sexual assaults on an 11-year-old girl are expected in court Wednesday in a case that has divided and horrified their southeast Texas town.

    The 14 men, who along with five juvenile boys are facing charges, are scheduled to be in a state district courtroom in Liberty for status updates. The investigation began in December, after one of the girl's friends told a teacher he had seen a lurid cell phone video that showed the girl being raped in an abandoned trailer.

    Authorities say the girl was assaulted on at least five occasions, sometimes by as many as seven or eight young men or boys at a time, from mid-September to early December in Cleveland, a small city about 45 miles northeast of Houston. The suspects range in age from a middle-school student to a 27-year-old, and include two star athletes at the local high school as well as adults with criminal records.

    Most of the adult suspects face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, while four face a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child. Most have pleaded not guilty and are free on bond, while one, 26-year-old Marcus Porchia, was charged after his arrest with sexually assaulting another girl in an unrelated case.

    The case shined a sometimes unflattering spotlight on Cleveland after some in the town of about 9,000 residents suggested the girl was culpable in part for what happened, claiming she wore makeup and looked older. Some also accused her parents, immigrants from Mexico, of not watching her more closely. Those suggestions were sharply criticized by many Cleveland residents and by community and religious groups outside the city.

    Also complicating the case was a belief by many in the predominantly black neighborhood where several of the suspects live that the arrests were racially motivated. All of the suspects are black, while the girl is Hispanic.

    The girl, now 12, remains in foster care as her parents, who have health problems and moved out of Cleveland after receiving threatening phone calls, work with state child welfare authorities to get her back.

    A gag order is preventing those connected to the case from commenting.

    Authorities began investigating after the girl's friend told a teacher he had seen a video that had been passed around among classmates that showed the girl being attacked. Police determined it was recorded inside a mobile home on the city's northern outskirts.

    The girl told investigators she was raped Nov. 28, first at a house near the mobile home and then at the trailer. Indictments allege she also was assaulted in September, October and December.

     

    478 comments

    • chris  •  10 mths ago
      rape isnt funny,unless your raping a clown.........

      let the thumbsdown begin!

      ;)
    • Randy  •  10 mths ago
      sure the brothers all stick together we need to start a new organization white guys stand united
    • Mary Grace  •  10 mths ago
      So if a girl wear makeup and looks older she automatically becomes a CANDIDATE for RAPE??? And if a girl is raped because of this IT'S HER FAULT??? What a load of @#%$!!!
      • Beware I Bite 10 mths ago
        Yeah, thats how men in our wonderful country are thinking now days. Too many
      • Let's Speak Truth 10 mths ago
        Rape? GIVE ME A BREAK! On several different occasions with several different men at once and she never mentioned it?
      • PAUL 10 mths ago
        imagine you are 11 yrs old, hispanic living in a predominately black city and 19 men rape you. You think the black animals actually zipped up their pants and said have a nice day? I'm sure they threatened her, her family and god knows what else.
    • Pamela W  •  10 mths ago
      Right. It is racially motivated to arrest rapists who record their antics and then allow a child in middle school to view this video of his friend being raped. OK. And was you sexual assault of this little girl racially motivated because she is hispanic? Hmmm?
      • Ojating 10 mths ago
        as a girl you must not support rape cos it might happen to you
      • True Patriot 10 mths ago
        White rapists, hispanic child being raped
      • True Patriot 10 mths ago
        What would happen?
    • Salem  •  10 mths ago
      Rape is a crime that must not be allowed to thrive in civilized society, the perpetrators must be made to face the wrath of the law whatever their skin colour is.
    • - -  •  10 mths ago
      try all of them as adult so they can spend the rest of there lives behind bar send a message a crime is a crime no matter what your color is
      • GuBe 10 mths ago
        What about castrating all of them?
      • Thabo Motsoene 10 mths ago
        YES THATS TRUE!ITS A SHITTY WORLD WE LIVE IN WE THINK ABOUT OURSELVES NOT OTHER PPL
      • eye five 10 mths ago
        They banded together as a gang, raped as a gang, therefore those who committed the gang rapes on multiple occassions should also face Federal Charges under the RICO act.
    • Truthful Thoughts  •  10 mths ago
      Looks to me that everytime a black/s are accused of any type of crime, they immediatly claim racial profiling. Rape is rape no matter what color or nationally is involved. While i'm not a racest, I see no reason not to convict these animals along with the parents for not caring for their child.
      • Cynthia 10 mths ago
        AMEN! I am so incredibly SICK of the "racist" card being pulled every time something like this happens. SICK!
      • Randy 10 mths ago
        How come everyone says their not a racist Iam a racist but I still give black people rides home I dont trust black people
    • moto-x  •  10 mths ago
      This world holds some sick SOB's!
    • slim blue  •  10 mths ago
      Any one who does this to a child needs to be in a place where they can never hurt another child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! low life scum!!!!!!!!!
    • Dale  •  10 mths ago
      I'm a black woman and race has absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!! to do with this case. Their nasty, evil asses should pay for what they did to this child . THERE IS NO DAMN EXCUSE!!!!!!! NOT EVERYONE IN ANY PARTICULAR RACE THINKS THE SAME....
    • Warrior Against Racism  •  10 mths ago
      I am am African-American woman. I am sickened to hear about the rape of this child, and sickened , angry and embarrassed that some people make excuses for the rapists who did this to that young child. Using racism as an excuse to excuse those rapists- they are scum bags, low-life animals. They are bad the lowest form of animal. We as African-Americans are nothing but hipocrites if we try to justify and pllace blame on the this young victim. I and members of my generation have fought and suffered too much for Civil Rights in this country to have low life thugs and scum of the earth tarnish our race and our fight for dignity ,equal rights and respect. Black people-especaially mothers_- start raising your children from the moment that they are born. Teach them respect and love for themselves and all people. Young black men start pulling up your pants , stop showing your behinds-walk like a man not like a clown- respect yourself. It is not cool to look like a fool! Young black women- star5t respecting your self and stop being in the company of these clowns with the pants on the ground- you can and should be better than that and demand more. Young black women you also need to show more respect for yourself- stop the filthy , worsed than a sailor potty ramouths, stop dressing or Un-dressing with the street-walker ,let-it-all hang out outfits you arade around in. It is disgusting! Most of all young black women - stop the filthy , crude raw language that you use - especially to and in front of your children. You are the hope for a better life. Educate your children - let nothing stop you from doing that. You owe Dr. King,Rosa Parks and all black people through out the generations a debt of thanks and a promise to carry on the tradition of things that have been fought to realize a better life as first-class citizens. When we as a people start living our life in the ways I.ve touched on above- we won"t be reading about black men and boys being arrested for heinous crimes and we certainly won"t hear members of our community trying to justify and ignorantly cry "racism".
    • Ack Ack Ackackackackack!  •  10 mths ago
      Haven't we had enough of these predators? I say it's time to contemplate "castration" as a just way to remedy this issue!! Don't give them a trial and set them free on another unsuspecting community so they can do it gain! Anyone who sexually abuses children regardless of their "color" deserves to be put out of commission! Imagine if it was your child!!
    • Julius Kitur  •  10 mths ago
      Rape has nothing to do with race.Rapists must be put to face the full force of the law.
    • goodluck  •  10 mths ago
      Back in my grandfather's day, the men would gather and clean out such diseased members of their community. The result was a place where children could walk for miles by themselves to school and play by themselves in the woods. Utmost respect was shown to every woman. We're told such 'vigilante' justice is abusive and prone to mistake. We're told to leave such matters in the hands of the 'learned' ones. Look at the results of this complacency: rampaging rape-gangs and multi-mega-dollar prison contracts...

      They should be hung from their own entrails! Any who stand to defend them, should themselves be added to the daisy chain. Remember, this vile act was committed against a twelve-year-old child!
    • country girl  •  10 mths ago
      Free on bond? The girls fault she is 11, a child=gang raped on several occasions, why aren't these sickos locked up? Something is very wrong here-
    • Rwing  •  10 mths ago
      Aw jeezus! What have we become?
    • Paul  •  10 mths ago
      These are not "horny dogs." This is not about being sexually attracted to a child. This is brutal assault. This is evil in a man's whole being--in this case, many men, and boys too. This is the desire to beat and traumatize for life an innocent vulnerable child.
    • Gracie  •  10 mths ago
      that...is...RAPE
    • NobleOne  •  10 mths ago
      girl was 11 ,now 12 years old, looked older .... even if she said "yes" it is still rape
      these horny dogs need a good whipping, then some rural justice seeing that the Courts and Police in Texas can't do their jobs
      Black ,White ,Hispanic or any other ethnicity...this is wrong on so many levels
    • maryjanesuncle  •  10 mths ago
      Cut off their junk and put it on display
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