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RCMP officers update reporters during a press conference in Maple Ridge, B.C., Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010.
Police call gang-rape photo sharing 'disgusting'
Police say photos of a 16-year-old girl being gang-raped at a rave in suburban Vancouver are being posted on Facebook and passed around in e-mails and text messages that one detective called "disgusting."
The teenager, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was attending a rave along with several hundred other youths in the Vancouver suburb of Pitt Meadows last Friday night or early Saturday morning.
RCMP Const. Aaron Lloyd said that at some point during the party, the teen was given a "date rape" drug that rendered her unconscious. She was then taken out of the house where the main party was taking place and assaulted by five to seven youths.
Lloyd said several other teens watched the repeated sexual assaults on the girl and at least one of them took photographs.
A 16-year-old youth has been arrested and charged with production of child pornography.
"He not only took the photographs and distributed the photographs, he was clearly present (but) we can't say at this time for certain if he was or was not involved in the sexual assault," Lloyd said.
Cpl. Jennifer Hyland said the pictures of the rape have spread like wildfire through social networking sites and cellphones, despite attempts by police and the victim's family to stop them.
Hyland said many of the youths contacted by police were defiant when asked to stop distributing the pictures.
"They continue to be reposted by other youths who are receiving them and posting them back onto various websites, including Facebook, and are being shared amongst BlackBerrys and iPhones," she said.
"It is spreading like wildfire and our attempts to stop this victim from reliving this … it's just getting worse. The more we try to tell people to take it off the more people send it and post it."
Even more shocking to investigators were some of the comments posted alongside the photos, Hyland said, most of them suggesting the gang rape was consensual.
"I can't believe the things we're reading as investigators that are being posted on Facebook; the comments that are being said about this victim … it's disgusting to read what these youths are posting and it's even more disgusting that the photos are being posted on even more sites."
Hyland warned that those who post the images on Facebook or anywhere else could be charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.
Lloyd said police are interviewing several people who attended the party although he acknowledged that: "There are a number of youths and young adults who are not co-operating with us."
He said there will be more arrests in the case, but could not say when.
"We are interviewing numerous people who were at the party and trying to determine what they witnessed and what information they can provide. We are getting closer but we have not yet got to the point where we can make arrests."
