Texas Town Divided After Sexual Assault Of Young Girl
And not in the way one might expect. Over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, an 11-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped by over a dozen men in an abandoned mobile home located in Cleveland, Texas (forty miles northeast of Houston). The girl was lured into a car with a 19-year-old suspect, who drove her to the abandoned trailer. Once there, she was forced to disrobe and perform sexual acts with multiple men in both a house and the abandoned trailer. The acts were photographed and videotaped. One of the girl’s classmates saw the video and reported the crime to school officials. Once it was determined none of the events occurred on school property, the case was handed over to the local police.
While many in the community have responded with outrage at the alleged crime and the tender age of the victim, others have responded by blaming the victim and her mother. Community residents claim the girl hung out with older guys and dressed suggestively. Others say no matter what, her mother should have been responsible for her whereabouts and none of this would have ever happened.
Furthermore, some in the community are convinced this is nothing more than a racially-based “set-up” by the local authorities to round up African-American men and put them in prison. The victim is Hispanic.
Quanell X Stages Rally in Cleveland: MyFoxHOUSTON.com
Regardless of the race of the victim or the alleged offenders, this is an incredibly hideous and vile act that should be taken seriously by all within the community. Perhaps the mother should have been more concerned about the acquaintances and whereabouts of her daughter, but that does not give anyone the right or reason to violate a young girl in such a horrible way. The focus should be on supporting the victim and her family and standing with them to ensure this never happens to another person.
We all know there are many injustices occurring within the criminal justice system with regards to minorities—I raise my Black Power fist quicker than most—but this is not about race. With video evidence (and the DNA evidence likely to follow), this should be an open and shut case in which the community may have to cease to make excuses and come face-to-face with a despicable truth.
Here’s hoping the community unites to move forward and realize if one is hurt, we are all hurt. By that standard, the small Texas town of Cleveland is in serious pain.
Source: New York Times
theres no room for sick people that like to have sex with children in this world. regarless of their race if they did it they will have to answer to someone when judgment comes.
I cant believe this is a race thing..they raped a young girl and videotaped it..lets get them in jail..end of story..blue white or orange ..she was a child and they are grown and knew better.
First of all, these actions are wrong, no one, no matter what race should be involved in sexual relations with a minor period, but i cant help but to question, why the girl didnt come forward, why was it a friend of the girl after she saw the tape. Did the girl lie about her age or was any of the acts consentual. That would be a big difference between the crime and sentence. Either way they all deserve jail time, I just dont think nearly as much if she lied about her age, consent to the acts, and was just embarassed when the wrong people found out. A lot of unknown details in this. I wouldnt want to have a speeding ticket in TEXAS though. These dudes might get the death penalty.
This is quite despicable to say the least. OMG!!! Even if an 11 year old lied about her age, most 11 year old, if they look older than their age, will NOT LOOK 18 YEARS OLD!! These men are disgusting. And looking at how gross some of them look, who would consent for half of these ugly idiots to touch them, NOT EVEN GROWN WOMEN!!! And the Fact that he is defending them goes to show that he, himself is a pervert. What if it were his daughter? His argument is “WHERE WERE HER PARENTS” He fails to realize that you can not watch your children every minute of the day. People get kidnapped just walking to school, people get snatched up and rapped and killed just playing outside of their front yard. We live n a crazy world. This is completely absurd. And what ever happened to Thanksgiving being a day that you spend with your family and friends? What were these men coming to a trailor to have sex with a minor for. It goes to show that they are sick!! IF it started out with just two men and then the rest came, That is just freaking SICK!!!!