Los Angeles high school students tied to sexual assaults
Police arrest 10; four still being sought
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles police descended on Venice High School on Friday, arresting 10 students in connection with a series of sex crimes that began more than a year ago and involved at least two female classmates.
Students watched in shock as classmates were taken away in handcuffs, three days after police began looking into the allegations. All but two of the arrests were on campus; authorities were attempting to locate four other students.
As detectives investigated, they discovered at least one photograph showing a sex act, according to law enforcement sources. A photo that appears to show two teenagers engaged in a sex act has been circulated on social media. Allegations involved both consensual sexual acts between minors and coerced acts, which complicates the case, police said.
Law enforcement officials stressed the investigation is still in its early stages and that police made the arrests quickly in an effort to prevent any more incidents.
“We didn’t want to leave the suspects out there to potentially victimize other girls at the school,” Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said. “The last thing we wanted was to have another victim.”
The alleged crimes include sexual assault and lewd acts with a minor. Although the incidents date back to 2013, Smith said, most occurred in the last two months – and as recently as this month. Sources said that several boys were present during at least some of the incidents.
Authorities provided few details about the allegations and declined to identify the boys who were arrested because they are minors, all between the ages of 14 and 17. Sources in law enforcement and at Venice High said some of the boys are members of the high school’s football and basketball programs.
The allegations, they said, involved a group of male students working together to pressure girls into having sex. The boys were accused of making verbal threats and threatening the girls’ reputations, according to one of the sources.
Venice High has long been a microcosm of the diverse community around it, which includes a mix of rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods and areas known as a center of gang violence. The school has more than 2,000 students; about two-thirds are Latino.
In 2006, a 17-year-old Venice High student was fatally shot as he tried to protect his younger brother from gang members.