11-year-old girl gang raped in Moreno Valley park, police say; 6 arrested, 1 sought

Moreno Valley police were looking Monday for a 19-year-old man suspected of taking part in what authorities said was the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl.

Police arrested six juveniles in connection with the March 10 assault in the bathroom of Victoriano Park.

One suspect, Michael Sykes, 19, remained at large, according to a statement released by the Moreno Valley Police Department.

Sykes is believed to have fled to the Los Angeles area. He and the other suspects are believed to be affiliated with a local street gang.

The juvenile suspects were booked in Riverside County Juvenile Hall for charges of sexual assault on a child. Police were not immediately available to provide more details.

Those with information are asked to contact Det. Duke Viveros at (951) 247-8700.

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-- Abby Sewell

Comments

[Mark]

Lock these savages up for life, and lets hope they get a good, hard dose of prison justice.

[Bob]

Animals

[H]

These animals need to be executed!

[J.J.GARCIA, JR.]

This month, Cleveland, Texas, city police, and Texas Rangers, up to date, have arrested 19 local resident black male suspects, ranging in ages from 16 to 26 years old, in connection with the gang rapes of an 11-year-old girls, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico. The city of Cleveland is located 60-miles northeast of downtown Houston, on the very busy TX-59-north freeway, that extends south as far as to the border city of Laredo, TX. The case broke, when some of the suspects appeared on the internet boasting about their roles in the illegal sexual encounters with the 11-year-old child. Some of the suspects are members of the state top rated high school basketball team. Another suspect is the son of a Cleveland city council member. The rapes allegedly occured last November and December. The child and parents have moved out of the city, because of "death threats" to the family, from supporters of the suspects. As of this date, law enforcement authorities continued to investigate the criminal incidents, and have stated, there will possibly more arrests regarding these cases. As a former police reporter in the metro-Houston area, this is the first case of rape where so many suspects are involved in a gang rape of a child so young. The case in Moreno Valley, CA, unfortunately is so similar to the case in Cleveland, TX. My personal opinion is that parents should not let their children alone. Our country unfortunately, has been (mis)breeding all kinds of sexual predators, and kooks.

[Brian]

I would sincerely hope they are "mistakenly" placed in general population.

[x]

Reminds me of that texas case years ago where a gang raped, tortured and murdered 2 teenagers...3 were executed and the rest sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. Even once would be too many times, but it seems to becoming a common event, particularly among minorities...and it seems most are gang related. America is definitely losing the moral war when children rape other children. Where does this hate come from and how can so many people at one time disregard human decency and committ such heinous crimes without hesitation and obviously without any remorse. What can these savages see in an eleven year old girl to want them to rape her. My heart goes out to the girl...I can only imagine how long it will take for her to recover, not only physically, but emotionally as well...if she ever does.

[Nathan]

This is disgusting. I hope these animals get a long prison sentence, with no parole.

[One Love]

If they only understood that we are all one, they would have never caused this child so much suffering. I hope that they find love and forgiveness for the horror and pain that they have inflicted. It brings nothing but more sadness and suffering to hope for the suffering of the boys who committed this crime.

However, they should be removed from society so they can't hurt anyone else.

[Harold]

There are times when even the death penalty is too good for some criminals.

[uofsc93]

Prosecute their "parents" while your at it too. Why aren't the police patrolling a park a gang is known to frequent.

[MikeHunt]

Lock`em up as adults in general population and monitor and publisize the end results so that all the rest of you sick people out there think twice before doing something like this..

[Mrs. Smith of Moreno Valley]

I live in the area and have young children, and am horrified by this. However I know the area and police officers DO frequently patrol Victoriano Park. Please do not blame the officers. If they could have prevented this, they most assuredly would have. This kind of thing is why I insist on walking my children to school every day, and they do not wander outside of very specific boundaries unsupervised. I plan to continue this when they become teenagers even if they protest. I am here to be their Mother, not their friend, and I take that responsibility very seriously.