Gang rape victim, 11, mentally disabled
An 11-year-old girl gang raped last month in a Moreno Valley park was developmentally disabled, with the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, newly released court documents reveal.
A Moreno Valley police search warrant obtained Friday also showed that at least part of the attack by a man and six boys was videotaped on a cell phone and that the victim had been lured to the park from a nearby middle school.
The girl was able to identify one of her attackers by his tattoos, and she was able to identify the older girl who lured her to the park from Vista Verde Middle School, according to the warrant. Police initially said she was lured from a shopping center.
"This type of crime is as horrible as it gets. It shocks even the most experienced officer," said Moreno Valley Police Chief John Anderson. "I think what really makes it more shocking is it involves so many juveniles. I find that disturbing."
Police served the warrant April 7 to collect video and photo evidence from one suspect's cell phone, but it had been deleted and could not be retrieved.
They learned of the video while interviewing Phillip Butler, 16, who is charged in the attack. Butler told them that another boy who was arrested had filmed at least 10 minutes of the attack, which occurred between 3 and 6:30 p.m. March 14 at Victoriano Park in southeastern Moreno Valley.
On the cell phone, police found several pictures of gang members and were searching for text messages sent before and after the attack, according to the warrant.
Michael Sykes, 19, and four of the boys are charged with rape, sodomy and lewd acts with a child to benefit a criminal street gang, the Southside Mafia.
Sykes also is charged with kidnapping to commit rape, which could bring a life sentence. He has pleaded not guilty and bail has been set at $1 million. He is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside.
The others charged are Butler, Dominique Dupree Hull, 15, and brothers Javonte Marquise Dixon and Johntae Maurice Dixon, both 17. The boys also denied the charges.
They are due back in juvenile court Monday where officials will present a report looking at whether they should be tried as adults. They are each being held at Riverside Juvenile Hall.
Prosecutors are not seeking adult charges against the older girl and two other boys arrested in the case, including the boy who filmed the attack.
ATTACK DETAILED
According to police, the older girl met the victim in front of the middle school and led her to a shopping center and then to the park. Butler told detectives that Hull grabbed the girl by the arm as he led her with the other boys into the men's restroom.
The boy who recorded the rape was later arrested. He was laughing and joking while questioned by officers, according to the warrant.
He denied he was a gang member. Other suspects said he was bragging about videotaping the gang rape on his phone.
The girl reported the attack to police at a shopping center about 9 p.m. She was given a rape examination and was found with several injuries. She first identified Sykes through a photo lineup when she recognized tattoos on his arms and shoulders.
Five other warrants were served April 7 at various homes in Moreno Valley in connection with the attack.
Police have said the Southside Mafia gang was started in Moreno Valley and that it has a history of burglaries, marijuana sales and physical assaults.
DISABLED PROVE MORE VULNERABLE
A disabled rape victim might not have the ability or instinct to fight back, said Larry McAdara, executive director of the Riverside Rape Crisis Center.
The mentally disabled can be prone to more sexual assaults by predators because they may not understand the danger or be able to put the sexual assault in context, he explained.
"They do not see the threat coming. They do not understand what's happening," McAdara said. "Assaults are always about power, control and humiliation."
McAdara said the public needs to be informed of these types of rapes, because the public is at risk.
"When you think of someone who might do this, it says the very worst thing about humanity," he said.
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