Police: Gang rape outside school dance lasted over two hours
By Nick Valencia, CNN October 27, 2009 8:56 a.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html
(CNN) -- A California high school student who police said was gang raped in a two-and-a-half-hour assault outside a homecoming dance remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday, two days after she was flown from the attack scene in critical condition.
As of late Monday, two suspects had been arrested in the case and a third was being questioned.
"There is one individual in custody who has made some spontaneous statements that have led me to believe that he is culpable for what happened," Richmond police Lt. Johan Simon said.
Nineteen-year-old Manuel Ortega, described as a former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said.
A 15-year-old was later arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual assault. A third teenager was being interviewed, according to Lt. Mark Gagan of the police department in Richmond, California.
"Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts," Gagan said.
Investigators said as many as 15 people, all males, stood around watching the assault, but did not call police or help the victim, a 15-year-old student at Richmond High School in suburban San Francisco.
"As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated," Gagan said. 
Authorities had interviewed the victim, and the search for other attackers and bystanders who watched and did not report the rape was in "full-court press," according to Gagan.
"We have checked Facebook and YouTube to try to find any revealing evidence," he said. "We're looking in particular to see if anyone posted any video of the incident."
Several other individuals were detained at the scene but not arrested, Simon said.
The attack occurred on school grounds as the annual homecoming dance was under way inside the school Saturday night, authorities said.
The victim was found unconscious and "brutally assaulted" under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday,
after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Gagan said.
"This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it," Gagan said. "It was like a horror movie after looking at the evidence.
I can't believe not one person felt compelled to help her."
