A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two 17-year-old boys
Saturday night after they gave her alcohol outside the residence of
one of the boys, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David
Swing.
Morgan Hill – A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two 17-year-old boys Saturday night after they gave her alcohol outside the residence of one of the boys, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Both suspects were arrested without incident on charges of alleged rape of an intoxicated person, sexual intercourse with a minor and oral copulation with a minor. One of the boys was also charged with alleged possession of a controlled substance.
The girl and a 13-year-old friend were walking near the intersection of Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue sometime after 9pm when they were picked up by the suspects. Swing said that the 14-year-old knew one of the suspects, and he called her and asked her to hang out.
The group went to the home of one of the suspects, and at some point during the evening, the two girls were given alcohol. Swing said there were conflicting reports from the girls about how they received the alcohol, either straight from a Bacardi rum bottle or mixed in with a sports drink.
Dina Campeau, a member of the Community Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, said this is one of the reasons why the group supported state Assembly Bill 346, which strengthens restrictions on so-called “alcopops” favored by teen drinkers, especially females.
“For me, it kind of comes down to if they hadn’t been drinking, this might not have happened, they might have had more impulse control,” she said. “When girls are sober, they don’t give in to the kind of advances that are made. When they’ve been drinking, they’re really not thinking clearly, they’re kind of swept along into circumstances that get out of their control.”
Swing said the 13-year-old girl passed out at the residence after drinking the alcohol, and the 14-year-old had sex with the two boys and orally copulated them.
“Yes, she said she had sex willingly, however, according to statements, she was intoxicated,” he said. “It was consensual, but she was intoxicated.”
There were adults present in the home at the time, Swing said, but the teens were outside, and the adults were not aware of what they were doing.
The boys then took the girls to the area of East Dunne Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard, the 13-year-old regained consciousness in the car on the way there, according to police. When the boys left, one of the girls called her mother to come pick them up. She then told her mother what had happened, and the mother called police.
The girls were interviewed by police officers and taken to Valley Medical Center in San Jose for testing, and a sexual assault advocate talked with the girls. Swing said the 13-year-old told police she knew the boys had not had sex with her while she was passed out because “she knew how her body felt after sex.”
The 14-year-old also told police she “knew how her body felt after sex.”
“My bet is that if these girls have had sex before, not much of it has been sober either,” Campeau said. “There are all kinds of concerns here, there’s pregnancy scares, possible STDs.”
As the investigation progressed through the night, involving both the officers on the grave shift and the day shift coming in the next morning, the suspects were located and brought in for questioning. One of the suspect’s bedroom was searched a second time by an officer who found methamphetamine.
“I would suggest that if the alcohol was not introduced, this would not have occurred,” Swing said. “There are some judgment and maturity issues here. It’s really important to take a strong stance against underage drinking.”
