TWO MEN ARRESTED, EIGHT OTHERS SOUGHT IN RAPE OF 11-YEAR-OLD FRESNO GIRL

Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com and Associated Press

As many as 10 black men -- most of them current or former football players at local junior colleges -- may be responsible for the rape of an 11-year-old Latino girl in Fresno, California, police told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Monday that the 11-year-old victim and another juvenile identified as 15-year-old Jamie Gonzales ran away from a Fresno group home on Friday, June 7.

Fresno police took a missing persons/runaway juvenile report and broadcasted it to all patrol units. Police believe Gonzales may have been with the victim at the Fresno-area apartment complex where the rape took place that houses several members of the Fresno City College football team.

Police said Gonzales was not a victim of sexual assault herself, but may have socialized with or knew the suspects. However, the Fresno Police Department said it’s concerned for Gonzales’ safety and is asking for the media’s help in finding her.

Police arrested two men in connection with the rape Saturday night, and officials said they identified eight others as persons of interest in the case. Most or all are students at either Fresno City College or Reedley College, police said.

Mackey Davis, 20, and Eddie Scott, 19, both black, were arrested on one count each of child molestation with a victim under 14 and oral copulation with a victim under 18. Both were being held Sunday at Fresno County Jail on $100,000 bail.

Fresno police spokesman Jeff Cardinale told BlackAmericaWeb.com that all of the men suspected of raping the girl are also black.

"We do know that a sexual assault did occur," Chief Dyer said at a televised news conference, noting that physical evidence had been obtained at the site that "substantiates the victim's account."

Dyer told The Fresno Bee that other arrests are likely in the case he described as "tragic" and "disturbing."

"It's a tragedy on two fronts," Dyer said. "Number one is that you have an 11-year-old victim that was obviously taken advantage of by a number of individuals and sexually assaulted. What heightens the tragedy is the fact that these are individuals that we believe to be attending our local colleges and involved in our athletic program, playing football for at least one of these colleges."

The victim, a runaway from a group home, went to the Villa Hermosa apartments in southwest Fresno on Saturday night to visit an acquaintance who lived there, said Cardinale.

While she was inside one of the units, she allegedly was sexually assaulted multiple times by several men, he said.

The girl then fled the apartment and sought the help of a couple walking on the street. They called police around 9 p.m., Cardinale said.

According to the Bee, “the football players occupy two of the complex's apartments. The apartments are separated by a courtyard. Five live in the second-floor apartment where the alleged assault occurred; three others live in a bottom-floor apartment about 50 yards away, Smith said. Two additional players -- it's not clear where they would live -- arrived during the past weekend.”

Nicole Smith, 27, told the Fresno Bee that some of the players are originally from Florida, but they played in Memphis, Tenn., last season.

They all moved into the complex within the past month and were excited about the upcoming season, Smith told the newspaper.

"They were just getting ready for school to get started -- and the season," she said.

The Bee said “some of the players showed Smith video of their past games and scrapbooks that included newspaper articles about their games and accomplishments. Over the past two weeks, two or three players went for evening runs to get in shape. They also went to a local gym, according to Smith.”

"For the time they've been here, they haven't thrown any wild parties," she told reporters. "They haven't been doing anything crazy. They stay in the apartment. … I feel bad for them. That's just their life thrown away for something that childish."

The victim, who suffered no serious physical injuries, was taken to University Medical Center for an examination.

Calls and e-mails to the Fresno City athletic department were not immediately returned. Calls to Reedley went unanswered.

KFSN-TV reported that officials from both schools had planned to meet to discuss what course of action to take.

Chief Dyer has asked the California Department of Justice to “fast-track” the processing of physical evidence.