[h1]Police: Gang rape outside school dance lasted over two hours[/h1]
By Nick Valencia, CNN
October 27, 2009 1:24 a.m. EDT
An ambulance delivers a California high school student to the hospital last week. Police say she was gang raped.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Richmond, California, police say student was gang raped for over two hours
- Investigators: As many as 15 males stood watching; one person in custody
- A 15-year-old student remains in the hospital in stable condition
- Police lieutenant: "This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it"
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(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, three days after she was flown from the attack scene in critical condition.
"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," said Lt. Mark Gagan of the police department in Richmond, California.
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.
"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. That 19-year-old suspect -- 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.
Authorities have interviewed the victim, and the search for other attackers and bystanders who watched and did not report the rape is a "full court press," according to Gagan.
"We have checked Facebook and YouTube to try to find any revealing evidence," Gagan said. "We're looking in particular to see if anyone posted any video of the incident."
Five 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 Friday night, authorities said.
The victim was found unconscious and "brutally assaulted" under a bench shortly before midnight Friday after police received a call from someone in the area who overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Gagan said.
It was like a horror movie after looking at the evidence.
--Lt. Mark Gagan
"She ended up with those guys under her own will because she knew one of the boys who had gone to the high school before," Gagan said. "Right now, we're looking at toxicology reports to determine her blood-alcohol content and to determine if she was drugged."
According to authorities, the victim was flown to an area hospital in critical condition. She was in stable condition Monday, police said.
In an interview with CNN affiliate KTVU, Charles Ramsey, a school district board trustee, said there previously were plans approved for Richmond High School to install a new surveillance system next January.
The surveillance system "is tied to local law enforcement," Ramsey said. "It would have had a more visual view on what was going on and people would have been alerted and knowing that this was here."
Said Gagan: "This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it. It was like a horror movie after looking at the evidence. I can't believe not one person felt compelled to help her."
SMH A lot of people should be held accountable
