TX - 21 arrests in gang rapes of 11yo girl, Cleveland, 2010

[tlcya]

:blush: had hoped to fix that before you read it.

 

[mysteriew]

:blush: had hoped to fix that before you read it.

ROFL my bad!

 

[tlcya]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...-where-awful-gang-rape-occurred_n_834535.html

The article linked (Huffington Post has a lot of commenters who seem familiar with the town.) Those comments were several days back and I cannot seem to get to previous pages of posts. There is an interesting viewpoint of the town from a former teacher at Cleveland High on page one below the article tho.

 

[matou]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...-where-awful-gang-rape-occurred_n_834535.html

The article linked (Huffington Post has a lot of commenters who seem familiar with the town.) Those comments were several days back and I cannot seem to get to previous pages of posts. There is an interesting viewpoint of the town from a former teacher at Cleveland High on page one below the article tho.

Thanks for the Huff Post link. I really hope the trials occur in a large city nearby and isn't local. These boys/men need jail time. It wouldn't hurt to learn respect for women as well. JMO

 

[Lanie]

OH MY GOD!!!!

I just started reading this thread. I clicked on a couple of the articles, and I was so appalled at some of the comments after the articles I quit reading them. I skipped to the last page of this thread, and read the article discussing the mindset of the people in Cleveland, TX.

I started out thinking the people of that town could be rallying together to protect that poor child vs. having her taken from her home, to 5 minutes later thinking most of the people in that town are out of their freaking minds.

"These boys will have to live with this for the rest of their lives"???? I still can't believe I read that.

This is mob mentality on steroids. What is wrong with these people? Where is the outrage for what was done to an 11-year-old child? I am so disgusted I don't know what to say.

 

[Missizzy]

I can't find the previous comments about the earlier scandal either. IIRC, a number of years back, several Cleveland High School boys raped a young woman at another high school after a game. Being that so many now are bringing this up makes me think that that particular victim must have been black. It sounded like there was some investigation but nothing ever came of it and the boys went on their way. A lot of anger seemed to fester over that incident. I'll keep looking but I think it's been removed.

And Quanell X--a man who seems to stand for hatred. Why oh why would this town welcome this vicious man into their town? This little town needs healing right now, not hate and finger pointing.

On the wiki page, there's some shocking statements by this man, about a number of issues and people of other ethnicities and religion. As recently as 2008, he exhorted blacks to ignore "white law". Shame on him.

Where are the TX politicians? Surely there are some in Texas who could soothe these waters with a little wisdom. I also cannot believe that the local clergy are not stepping up.

I cannot fathom sending a child, of any color, age, religion or gender, to school in Cleveland, TX tomorrow. My heart goes out to the teachers as they're on the front line.

 

[Missizzy]

No one has to worry about sending kids to school this week in Cleveland as it's Spring Break. It begins on Monday, March 14th. That worries me greatly. 1300 middle school and high school age children on their own all day for the whole week with this level of acrimony in town. It would be far safer for the students to have been in school with supervision. From what I've read many many people in this community commute to the Houston area for their employment. That tells me that a whole lot of young people are going to be taking matters in their own hands. And, IMO, they haven't had many fine role models to reinforce decent behavior.

 

[Missizzy]

OK, I just went all the way back through the thread and found the comment about the earlier incident. It's a comment by a writer named Gladileft on March 7th at 1:50 pm:

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/clev...11e0-b60c-001cc4c03286.html#user-comment-area

It's hard to know if race was an issue in that incident and it's impossible to know if this writer has all the facts but it's clear that anger has been building up about the alleged incident for years.

It really bothers me to write about race but I guess in this case it's going to be impossible to ignore it. In reading through comments, I saw that many local people refer to the young girl as the same race as the men arrested for her rape. There's a comment that her aunt is black. I really think that the child is of mixed race and that, in itself, might be a huge issue.

Also of interest is that I found a Topix comment on February 18th, wondering when Quanell X (also referred to as "Q-Tip") was going to come to town to "stir the pot". It was clear that many expected he'd seize this tragedy as a platform for hate and there was a good bit of dread about the possibility.

I just keep waiting and waiting for a voice of reason to speak out loudly and clearly. I'm still waiting. And I'm very worried for those children this week. We need to remember that the rapes in November occurred over a five day holiday (per the Cleveland Schools calendar). Well, they're all out of school for nine days this time.

 

[Missizzy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110309...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDMThhcnJlc3RlZGlu

"...Indictments in the case allege that before the Nov. 28 attack, the girl also was assaulted on Sept. 15 and Oct. 25. Each of those times, at least two individuals were involved...."


I went back and checked the Cleveland Schools calendar and October 25th was just a typical school day, a Monday. I don't see any special events or closures. However, on Wednesday September 15th, there was a "home" football game for 7th graders vs. Montgomery at the Middle School. It was scheduled from 5-6:30 pm.

I also ran across several comments which state that "most" of the arrested are black boys and men. I'm still very concerned about trafficking and wonder if an older sibling or relative of the victim might have also been arrested. I have a horrible suspicion that someone was orchestrating this from behind the scenes. I'm very hopeful that that person has been identified.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Finally!! Someone speaking up for the child and calling Quanell X out for his hateful comments:

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Grou...-alleged-Cleveland-sex-assault-117866074.html

Mujeres Unidas held a news conference Saturday in support of the 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by more than a dozen men and teenagers in Cleveland, Texas. The group claims local activist Quanell X blamed the girl and her family for what happened at a town hall meeting Thursday. "It was not the young girl that yelled rape. Stop right there, something’s wrong brothers and sisters," said Quanell X. He questioned the fact that the girl never went to police. One of the girl’s friends at school saw cell phone video of the alleged rape and told a teacher.

"This was an 11-year-old child and no matter what she did, did not do, how she dressed how she talked how she acted, does not matter," said community activist Linda Morales. "This was a brutal and savage rape...."

and

"....She and eight others with Mujeres Unidas, Women United,　gathered in east Houston Saturday morning holding white carnations. They said the carnations were symbolic of the young girl’s innocence taken. Morales said Quanell X was wrong to blame the girl and her family for the alleged assault.

"At that town hall meeting, it was asked where the parents of the young girl were. We can easily and stupidly say where were the parents of the accused?...."

more at link

I think it's sad that there were only 8 of them.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

I came cross this poem looking up info on this case. It's not written by or about anyone in the case, but a tragic take on how it feels to be gang raped.

http://tinyurl.com/4e4cygp

 

[Missizzy]

Linda--I had the same reaction. I was so excited to see that article and a little deflated when I read that only 8 stood up. And I'm certain that a group named Mujeres Unidas, Women United would have been awfully pleased to have anyone--of any gender, race, or religion stand with them for this child.

Isn't Houston only 40 miles away? Where are the sit-ins, the protests, the vigils, the marches? I would think charter buses would be coming in with people to speak out for justice. Anyone want to come pick me up?

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42077480

Rant about the town blaming the victim.

 

[concentric]

I see many young people idolizing the "gangster" lifestyle. Apparently that is OK with the parents.

View some music videos related to this "genre," if you don't understand what I'm talking about.

 

[lonetraveler]

OH MY GOD!!!!

I just started reading this thread. I clicked on a couple of the articles, and I was so appalled at some of the comments after the articles I quit reading them. I skipped to the last page of this thread, and read the article discussing the mindset of the people in Cleveland, TX.

I started out thinking the people of that town could be rallying together to protect that poor child vs. having her taken from her home, to 5 minutes later thinking most of the people in that town are out of their freaking minds.

"These boys will have to live with this for the rest of their lives"???? I still can't believe I read that.

This is mob mentality on steroids. What is wrong with these people? Where is the outrage for what was done to an 11-year-old child? I am so disgusted I don't know what to say.

I too was shocked and appalled by what I have read regarding how the people in Cleveland, TX are defending these rapists but then I began to understand just how the gang rapes occurred and why they occurred. These men and teenage boys are the generation raised by these very same people who are defending them. That pretty much explains why it happened. :maddening:

 

[concentric]

I too was shocked and appalled by what I have read regarding how the people in Cleveland, TX are defending these rapists but then I began to understand just how the gang rapes occurred and why they occurred. These men and teenage boys are the generation raised by these very same people who are defending them. That pretty much explains why it happened. :maddening:

The generation that raised them. So what happened?

 

[mysticrose]

More than a dozen men accused in the gang rape of an 11-year-old Texas girl last November make their first court appearances

http://www.wyff4.com/video/27137789/detail.html

 

[Fairy1]

The generation that raised them. So what happened?

I would say the apples didn't fall far from the trees.

What a tragic and disturbing case - all around. A CHILD was brutally abused by nearly 20 males who appear to have many supporters willing to blame the victim. And there is a high profile "activist," :sick: stirring it up in a small community where racial tensions were clearly just below the surface and are now raging.

WTH? Seems we haven't made nearly as much progress as we'd like to think.

I hope this little girl is getting the help she needs. I have no empathy at all for all those who harmed her - no matter the circumstances or their color. Turning this into a racial issue will accomplish nothing and will not result in justice for the victim.

JMHO.

 

[katydid23]

Jane Velez-Mitchell did a segment on this case today. She focused on this Latina group of activists and showed some of their rally. And of course she ripped the town, and the people who blamed the 11 yr old, a new one.

 

[Missizzy]

I felt that this was a reasonable article until I read it through again. Notice what Ms. Myers says about this child and this family. Isn't this, once again, validating that "goodness" or "purity" makes a difference? That somehow, an Honor Roll civically engaged child is somehow worth more pity than a marginalized child?

I don't care if this child was skipping school every day with her parents unaware of her location of if she was in Honors classes. I don't care. She's 11 and she was raped. Children do not come with "values" attached to them. I want to know what led up to this calamity just as everyone else does. But Ms. Myers just further polarized the entire issue, to my mind.

IMO, Ms. Myers really needs to retract her statements or clarify them. She's stooping just as low as Quanell X.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/14/texas.alleged.rape/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular

Alleged gang rape of girl, 11, ignites firestorm in Texas community

"The alleged gang rape of an 11-year-old girl has torn apart a Texas community, with some focusing on the girl and her parents as much as, if not more than, the 18 people accused of sexually assaulting her. "It is segregating our community," Brenda Myers, the head of the Community and Children's Impact Center in Cleveland, Texas, told HLN's Vinnie Politan on Monday. "There's a lot of anger, a lot of vicious remarks toward the little girl....."

and

"....Myers said that she knows the girl, her siblings and her parents, and the entire family was active in her organization. "These kids are good kids," she said. "These (the girl and her siblings) were in basketball, honors society, ROTC programs. So I feel the parents were doing something right in their lives."

In addition to her distress for the girl, Myers added she also was "devastated ... that our community and people in our community are saying (this) about an 11-year-old child. It breaks my heart, it really does...."


more at link


The Community and Children's Impact Center of Cleveland, TX:

http://impactcenter.vpweb.com/