Police looking for second juvenile in Facebook Live case
Boy, 14, charged in alleged gang rape
Police said Sunday that they have identified and are searching for a second juvenile suspect in an alleged gang rape of a 15-year-girl last month that was streamed on Facebook Live.
The development came after Chicago Police Department announced late Saturday that they had charged a 14-year-old boy with aggravated criminal assault, manufacturing of child pornography and dissemination of child pornography for his part in the chilling incident that investigators said was viewed by dozens on the popular social media platform.
The younger suspect appeared in juvenile court Saturday and was ordered held in custody at Cook County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney.
Police described the second suspect as a 15-year-old boy, and like the 14-year-old, he will be charged as a juvenile. Because of the suspects’ ages, police did not release their names.
Authorities said they are looking to identify other juveniles — and at least one adult — who lured the girl to the basement of a residence on the West Side on March 19 before assaulting her.
The girl knew one of the assailants and was prevented from leaving the residence where she was assaulted, said Commander Brendan Deenihan, who leads the CPD division investigating the in- cident. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson described the attack as an act of “savagery.”
“They humiliated themselves, they humiliated their families, and now they are going to be held accountable for what they did,” Johnson said. “While I know the emotional wounds caused by this savagery will take long to heal, I’m hopeful her story can be an inspiration to so many other young women who are victimized by bullying and sexual assault.”
Police announced on March 21 that they were searching for five to six individuals for the assault of the girl soon after the victim’s mother approached the superintendent with still frames from Facebook.
The girl, who had gone missing March 19, was found by Chicago detectives two days later. After the girl was reunited with her family, they endured online taunts and harassing messages, Johnson said. The video, which has been removed from Facebook, also was viewed in real time by dozens of people, but no one called authorities, police said.
Andrew Holmes, a community activist who is serving as spokesman for the family, urged others involved to turn themselves in. He also suggested that he stood ready to publish images of some of the assailants in the video.
“I’m giving you a strict warning,” Holmes said. “You know you were in that basement, you are in that video, you assaulted that woman. … If you don’t turn yourself in sooner or later, I’m going to do the same thing you did with that baby. I’m going to snapshot your pictures — each and everyone of you.”