Three BLACK High School students boys have been charged with raping a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint after leaving a Pennsylvania fair, according to court documents.
Those arrests
came at the end of a two-month investigation by the West York Police
Department and the York County District Attorney's Office.
Kelvin J.
Mercedes, Andrew R. Miller, and Daishon M. Richardson from York,
Pa., have been charged with rape by force, involuntary deviate sexual
intercourse, unlawful restraint and terroristic threats. They should have been charged with use of a gun in committing felonies, and kidnapping.
West York
Police Detective Michael Mendez Sr., the lead investigating officer,
said the girl knew the teens before the incident outside the York Fair,
also known as "America's First Fair."
All three were members of the Central York High School football team and are charged as adults.
West York
Police Chief Matt Millsaps said two of the teens were picked up without
incident Tuesday. The third made arrangements to surrender to
authorities at the York County courthouse on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday
afternoon, the three had posted $25,000 bail each, but were waiting at
York County Prison to speak with probation on the conditions of their
supervised bail. The three were released on Wednesday night.
ONLY 25000 BAIL? In cash, that's only 2500 dollars.
In addition to
being monitored after their release, Richardson, Miller and Mercedes are
not allowed to have any contact with the victim, according to District
Judge Jennifer J.P. Clancy's office. A preliminary hearing on the case
is scheduled before Clancy on Jan. 11, according to online court
dockets.
Family members of the three declined to comment on Wednesday morning.
Julie Randall
Romig, the director of communications for the school district, said
Wednesday in an email, "Law enforcement officials have advised that this
is a non-school related issue and, therefore, we do not have any
comment on the ongoing police investigation.
When asked
about whether the suspects will be in the general population when school
resumes, school board president Eric Wolfgang said that it was a good
question. He suggested talking with the superintendent.
The investigation
Minutes after
midnight on Sept. 17, West Manchester Township Police were called to
York Hospital for a report of a sexual assault, according to a search
warrant filed by West York Police.
Once there,
West Manchester Township Police spoke with the 14-year-old victim who
said she was assaulted after leaving the fair, the warrant states. The
attack occurred sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sept. 16.
The victim
"advised she was taken to unknown locations, where she was forced to
perform oral sex on three males and then forced to have sexual
intercourse with ... them."
The girl
identified Miller and Mercedes by their first and last names and knew
her third assailant only as "Daishon." West Manchester Township
Police established Richardson as the third suspect and determined the
assaults occurred in the borough of West York, the warrant states.
Mendez interviewed the victim on Sept. 22.
She told police
she went to the York Fair to meet up with friends, according to an
affidavit of probable cause. While they were walking around, the three
suspects followed behind them.
She said the
boys told her they wanted to show her something and to follow them. They
left the fairgrounds and eventually walked to a business parking lot
across from an athletic field at a West York Area school. Mercedes
allegedly put a gun to her head, told her to get on her knees and to
perform a sex act.
She told investigators that she did what they told her to do because she was afraid she would be killed.
She was forced to perform oral sex on all three suspects, the affidavit states.
They then
walked to an unknown yard that had a "well," the victim told
investigators. The suspects took turns holding her down and sexually
assaulted her, the affidavit states.
Mendez said the "well" actually was a crumbling fire pit in a West York resident's back yard.
The victim said
that after the second round of sexual assaults, she was thrown roughly
into a maroon SUV or van and was driven back to the fairgrounds. Mendez
said investigators did not know who owned the vehicle or who was
driving.
Mendez said the
girl then went home, told a relative what had happened and was taken to
York Hospital for a forensic rape examination. Hospital staff contacted
the police.
The victim told
police the assault was photographed or videotaped. Mendez explained
that the girl, while being assaulted, saw a light from a cellphone and
thought one of the teens took a photo or a video.
Sometime later,
the girl said she received a text picture from Miller showing him
holding the gun she said was used to threaten her.
She also said
that Miller texted her telling her she was beautiful and that Richardson
texted her telling her to stop lying, according to the affidavit.BLACK
