I understand that you cannot reveal identity of minors but surely the MVPD and MV Voice can do a better job reporting the details in the interest of public safety:
- Ages of the rapist and his co-conspirator?
- Age of victim?
- Did they all know each other?
- What date and time did the assault occur?
- When was it reported to MVPD and by whom,victims parents? A teacher?
- Where specifically in the Park did this 'meeting' take place?
- What were the circumstances of this so-called Meeting?
- Were there drugs/alcohol involved?

For public safety, parents need to know these details. There are a LOT of details here which MUST be part of the public record. Very poor reporting.

Many of the kids at Graham seem to know the identiy of one of the rapists, but not the identity of the other. My daughter had a PE class with that boy but nobody in her circle of friends had actually spoken with him. In any case, he hasn't been to school since the rape. The Graham kids in my daughter's circle seem to be taking it all in stride, but I find that quite disturbing.

They will just blame the principal as they do with everything else that goes on at Graham. That's the easy thing to do lately. The child, the parents, the teachers, the district office and the school board will just point fingers. Sad.

@ Graham Parent- do you know any of the details of what happened?

Why do you NEED this information. Will you use this information to help someone in anyway? These are minors and they deserve privacy.

Given that this is middle school aged students, the law does not allow children at that age to give consent. This could be forced rape, it could be minors not realizing they can’t give consent. The boys were arrested and the police are handling it.

@Argh- a rapist of any age does not deserve privacy. The details of what happened are important so that we can talk to our kids about it and how they might handle a situation if ever encountered. And how they might avoid the situation altogether depending are where it happened. And how they might want to avoid those boys altogether since they appear to be rapists. You seem to be inferring that this might be a case of statutory rape or “three” minors consenting to sex. However this is unlikely because in that case how would the girl be identified as the “victim”? The article says the girl was assaulted by the two boys and so until told otherwise I think it’s reasonable to go with that.

What if the kids gave consent but the law still counts it as rape? The kids probably didn’t know the age of consent so that’s probably why the kids still did it. This is something that the sex Ed speakers should elaborate for.

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Actually, you can legally publish the identity of minors involved in crime if it's based on a truthful report. It's not legally considered an invasion of privacy. The source is the police report and the rapists were arrested so this report can be considered truthful. It's a first amendment right. Here in California there's even existing cases that have firmly established precedent. See Kapellas v. Kofman.

That said, I think the identity of the victim should be protected, but it's silly to expect the rapists to receive equal protection. I'm so sick of the "boys will be boys" attitude that created our rape culture. I want these boys to have the chance to learn from their mistake and move on, but if the boys receive too much protection, they will be protected from society's reaction. They should absolutely get the chance to feel some of the wrath from their community. A slap on the wrist and having everything back to normal because nobody knows what they did would be the wrong lesson.

If you want more information, ask an 8th grader.

If you have a child that goes to Graham then. Else, you won't know them if you saw them. And you should prepare your children the same regardless.

@Mike- these kids are in 8th grade. Hopefully the boys will be locked up but if not, they’ll be in one of the high schools next year and their identities should be known for the safety of all. Rape isn’t like shoplifting- its not just a “mistake.” It’s a violent crime and the boys actions will forever alter the life of their victim; it changes who she is as a person. Mere slaps on the hand create the Brock Turners of tomorrow. Time’s Up for minimizing these crimes.

The community of Graham 8th graders and their parents will hopefully ensure that these boys get the message loud and clear. Rape may be considered entertainment on HBO via Game of Thrones and also be available via Internet porn 24/7, but society will punish you for enacting it in real life.

As for preparing your kids, I think the best course of action is for the father to explain to both their sons and daughters how they should respect girls and boys as equals. A mother can of course provide this same information, but it would be a lot more powerful if this lesson came from Dad.

"The kids probably didn’t know the age of consent so that’s probably why the kids still did it." That is a truly ridiculous and idiotic comment.

My 8th grader, who also had PE class with one of the boys involved, told me about this horrific crime a few weeks ago. I'm surprised it's just now getting coverage. My 8th grader also informed me that another Graham student said, "the girl was lying about it, so she doesn't get in trouble." If these boys are guilty, I hope they get full repercussion for their actions. Their parents should face consequences too. As parents, we need to educate our children and be forthcoming regarding these types of issues in society. Our kids are exposed to it everywhere, whether advertently or inadvertently.

I would also like to point out the fact that Brian Rios, a teacher at Theuerkauf was arrested in Dec 2017. for charges remarkably similar to the charges filed against these 8th graders.

Is it possible that these two events have something in common? is Brian Rios grooming these kids?

And why is Brian Rios still an employee of the school district?

As a parent, I urge other parents to bring their concerns to the board meetings. It's time to start demanding
answers.

There have been two stories circulating through Graham this week. As a parent I've had to explain to my kid why we are hearing different versions of events. We are hearing that one of the rapists was identified because he went to school and bragged about his sexual conquest. The other thing we are hearing is that parents are telling their kids that the girl wanted to have sex and got the boys in trouble, that there is no rapist at school. These two stories contradict each other and I've had to explain to my kid why people would say these things.

Also, the kids at Graham think they have figured out who the girl is. They say she's the 6th grader who stopped attending school when the two boys did. They think she's 11 or 12 years old. The kids are also telling each other that one of the rapists was previously held back a year and is 15 years old.

I understand why a parent would try to reassure their child that there is no rapist at Graham. But blaming the girl is not the solution. If you are telling your kid that the 11 year old girl wanted to have sex with two 15 year old boys, please stop. Instead, tell your kid that everyone deserves to be respected.

Have there been any followup reports on this from the Voice of MVPD? If not, there needs to be. This was reported in the Voice on April 12, nearly 10 days ago. If anyone has more details please share.

Please, let's leave supposition of the victim's identity out of a public forum. Kids will gossip, but as adults let's do better.