6 teens accused in vodka-fueled gang rape of 2 girls
Pastor Dale Morgan
6 teens accused in vodka-fueled gang rape of 2 girls*
New Year's Day sexual assault left 13-, 14-year-old unconscious by canal
--South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WEST BOCA - The New Year's Day sexual assault that left a 13- and a
14-year-old girl unconscious by a canal was fueled by a drinking binge
of rapid-fire vodka shots with a group of boys they considered friends,
police reports showed Friday.
At least six boys, one as young as 13 at the time, were arrested in the
assault. The eldest, 18-year-old William Long, faced Judge Paul Moyle
Friday and ordered the teen held on $100,000 bond for charges of sexual
battery on a physically incapacitated person and lewd and lascivious
battery. He, along with five juveniles allegedly got the two teenage
girls drunk on Smirnoff and Sprite and assaulted them.
"If true, they are egregious," Moyle said of the charges.
Long was arrested Thursday at West Boca Raton High School, where he is a
senior.
The State Attorney's Office is taking steps to charge four of the minors
as adults. At least one of the teens raped the victims, the sheriff's
office said. Prosecutors cannot make the youngest, who turned 14 Jan.
11, face the sexual assault charges as an adult, spokesman Michael
Edmondson said.
Someone under 14 can be charged as an adult only if facing a
first-degree felony punishable by life in prison with a grand jury
indictment, he said.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel does not name juvenile offenders. The
alleged perpetrators attended Boca Raton area schools: Boca Raton High,
West Boca Raton High, Olympic Heights High and Eagles Landing Middle,
authorities said.
The assault took place between 9 p.m. and midnight on Jan. 1, sheriff's
spokesman Paul Miller said. A homeowner called deputies after hearing
moans coming from the canal in the 10000 block of Old Bridgeport Lane
west of Boca Raton. When deputies arrived, they found the two girls
unconscious. The girls were taken to West Boca Medical Center with
non-life threatening injuries.
New Year's Day started innocently enough for the group. The girls went
to home of one of the suspects that afternoon and had pizza. But later,
the suspect's brother gave them vodka and the group started drinking
outside, according to Long's arrest report. One of the victims later
said she drank more than five shots within 45 minutes. The other victim
reported doing the shots in 15 minutes.
"The last thing she remembers is tripping and her shoes falling off,"
Detective Bob Falbe wrote in the arrest report. "The next thing she
remembers is waking up in the hospital thinking 'How did I get here and
what is going on?'."
She remembered kissing one of the juvenile defendants, Falbe wrote.
Under questioning, Long said he did nothing wrong that night. He claimed
his only contact with one of the victims came when he helped tilt her
head because he didn't want her to "drown in her throw up." He ran away
when deputies arrived. "There seems to be some suggestion that he was
trying to help," Long's attorney, Glenn Mitchell said.
One of the girls was found in the fetal position, naked from the waist
down, detectives said.
A neighbor who lives in front of the canal said Friday that he saw the
teens partying earlier in the night.
"They were all having fun," David Herbert, 47, said. The Lakes at Boca
Raton, with its well-manicured lawns and spacious homes, is quiet and
doesn't normally attract teen parties, he said.
The Lakes at Boca Raton was the site of 2001 incident in which an
17-year old persuaded a 14-year-old to have sex with him and two friends
on camera in a recreation center bathroom.
News of the New Year's Day assault was not made public until Thursday
after Long was arrested. Miller defended the delay, saying the suspects
were not a threat to the public and publicizing the investigation could
have compromised the case.
While the cases wind through the criminal justice system, the school
district can remove the students from their schools for serious
incidents that occur off school property.
"The district has a felony suspension policy and is awaiting official
notice from the State Attorney's office to be able to apply that
policy," spokesman Nat Harrington said.
The school would have to determine that a student's continued presence
on campus would "have an adverse impact on the educational program,
discipline, or welfare in the school in which the student is enrolled,"
according to School Board policy.
Under a felony suspension, students are transferred temporarily to an
alternative education school. "If the student is found guilty of a
felony, the principal may recommend expulsion," the policy states.
Boca Raton High Principal Geoff McKee said he knows one of his seniors
was arrested, but he has not received official word from authorities.
Jessica Coccia, parent of a sixth-grade daughter at Eagles Landing
Middle, said Friday she was shocked to learn students from the school
were involved.
"The school hasn't acknowledged it or said anything about it," Coccia
said. "I ended up finding out through my hairdresser." Eagles Landing
Principal Ira Margulies said he did not want to comment.
A neighbor and family friend of Long's, Patti Preissler, said he comes
from a close-knit family and wanted to become a firefighter like his uncle.
"I would stake my life that he was in no way involved with this
incident," she said. "This is just so upsetting, for him to be even
accused of something like this. It's ludicrous."
Staff Researchers Barbara Hijek and William Lucey and Staff Writers
Maria Herrera, and Stephanie Horvath contributed to this report.