Lesbian's Attackers Caught

An unidentified 28-year-old woman was brutally raped and beaten for 45 mins by a gang of 4 men. She was then thrown out of her own car and left naked on the street. During the attack the men told her she was targeted because she was a lesbian. See the initial report here.

It was announced that all four suspects are now in custody. Three of them had been arrested following tips from local residents and the fourth turned himself in. Charged in this brutal gang rape case are:

• Humberto Hernandez Salvador arrested at his Richmond home. The 31-year-old was being held without bail on gang rape, kidnapping for a sex crime, carjacking and probation violation charges.


• Josue Gonzalez, 21, known as "Pato" arrested on a $1 million arrest warrant for gang rape, kidnapping for a sex crime and carjacking.


• A 15-year-old Richmond boy and


• A 16-year-old Hercules boy going by the nickname "Blue".

The 15 and 16 year old boys were being held on a no-bail status at the juvenile detention center in Martinez on similar charges as the adults. Their names were not released because of their juvenile status.

According to Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond police, Josue Gonzalez' mother saw the announcement of the arrests of  Humberto Salvador and the two teen aged boys on TV and the family received numerous calls from inquiring relatives. It was around noon when Gonzalez walked into the Richmond police headquarters with his mother, stepfather and girlfriend and surrendered.

Humberto Salvador "had the most involvement and gave orders and directions to the other individuals," Gagan said. "But they're all responsible for the crimes that were committed against the victim."

Authorities had offered $10,000 for tips leading to the attackers' arrest. So far the police have not distributed any money, Gagan said, but the community did provide helpful information in the case.

"The crime had an immediate effect on our community," Gagan said. "Locally people were very afraid to know that these people were out there."

Gagan said the woman is recovering. Community Violence Solutions, a nonprofit rape crisis center, has opened a fund in the name of Richmond Jane Doe to help the woman pay for relocation expenses, police said.

"We know that being the victim of this crime has changed her for life. I can only imagine that knowing these people are in custody is a relief."

Lesbian Rape Considered a Hate Crime

An unidentified 28-year-old woman was brutally raped and beaten for 45 mins by a gang of 4 men. She was then thrown out of her own car and left naked on the street. During the attack the men told her she was targeted because she was a lesbian. Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests and prosecution in the case.

"I've lost sleep over this. I am sickened," said police Chief Chris Magnus. "While every sexual assault is a terrible crime, this particular case is especially horrific because multiple individuals acted together in the commission of this assault, and because of the hate-crime aspect."

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The victim, who police describe as openly gay, parked her car on the 1500 block of Visalia Avenue, Richmond, Ca., at about 9:30pm. While walking away from the car she was approached by four men on foot. "One of the suspects struck the victim with a (blunt) object," Lt. Mark Gagan said. "There was very little interaction between the victim and the suspects. From that point, the physical assault turned into a sexual assault."

"She was beaten, she was robbed and she was sexually assaulted," Gagan said. A few minutes into the sexual assault, one of the men told the group that someone was approaching and they forced the victim into her car. They took her to a desolate area near the Bay Area Rapid Transit tracks, about seven blocks away, to the 1300 block of Burbeck Avenue where they continued to rape her, both inside and outside the vehicle.

During the attack, which lasted for about 45 minutes, the suspects made several statements about the victim's sexual orientation. She also had a rainbow sticker on her license plate that identified her as being supportive of the gay community. After the attack, the suspects fled in the victim's car, leaving her there naked in the street, Gagan said.

After the men left she was able to get help from a nearby resident, who called for the police and an ambulance. She was treated for her injuries at a hospital and released.

Although the four men participated in the attack to varying degrees, they are all being sought on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and rape in concert with an enhancement for committing a hate crime.

"It's rare to find four adults willing to condone behavior this extreme and violent. It's clear that some of them behaved as followers, but all of them are responsible for what happened," Gagan said. "They should know that their best chance (for leniency) would be to turn themselves in and cooperate with our investigation before we identify them and apprehend them on our own."

The police have descriptions of the four suspects:

• The first suspect, the leader of the group, was described as a Hispanic man in his 30s. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 180 pounds and had black hair, brown eyes and a mustache.




• The second suspect was a black man in his early 20s. He was about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed about 170 pounds and had black hair and brown eyes. He goes by the nickname "Blue."




• The third suspect was described as a Hispanic man about 18 to 20 years old. He goes by the nickname "Pato."




• The fourth suspect was described only as a Hispanic man about 18 to 20 years old.

"The Richmond Police Department is pleading for the community to come forward and help us find the people responsible for committing this vicious crime," Gagan said. "We are hoping that residents know who these people are. People need to pick up the phone."

Anyone with information about any of the suspects is asked to call Detective Ysenia Rogers at (510) 672-1717.

Guards Guilty in Teen Jail Rape Case

It was a snowy day on Feb. 13, 2003. School at Pendleton County High School was canceled that day. An 18-year-old teen borrowed his Dad's car to visit a friend. On his way home he was arrested for speeding and fleeing from the cops. Little did he know at the time, but before he would see his family again he would be assaulted, raped and forced to perform sexual acts on prison inmates.

Two prison guards, Jack Powell and Clinton Sydnor, pleaded guilty in the case. Two other guards, Wesley Lanham and Shawn Freeman, stood trial....and were found guilty. They both face the possibility of being sentenced to life in prison when they face the judge again on Dec. 8.

The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for about five hours Thursday, Aug. 14th before announcing their verdict. Wesley Lanham, 30, of Dry Ridge, and Shawn Freeman, 35, of Irvine, were found guilty of conspiring to violate the teen's civil rights by allowing other inmates to sexually assault him in the 2003 attack. They were also found guilty of obstruction of justice because the jury also found there was aggravated sexual abuse.

"I just want to go home," Freeman cried as about 12 family members and friends of the defendants wept in the courtroom following the verdict.

"We will appeal. You can quote me on that," Lanham's attorney, Dan Dickerson, said.

The convictions are a result of a five-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, which concluded that the jail was violating inmates' civil rights. The case was prosecuted by Forrest Christian and Kristy Parker of Washington, D.C. The presiding judge was U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves.

The teen's ordeal began when the guards at the jail where he was being booked on the traffic violation decided to teach him a lesson. He was of slim build weighing only about 120 lbs. They made fun of the blond highlights in his hair, they made fun of his satin boxers, they told him he would make a good "girlfriend" for some of the inmates. Instead of putting him a holding cell, as was customary in such situations, he was put in a cell with 14 convicts.

The victim, now 23, graphically described being stripped, hit with jail-issued flip-flops, raped in a shower and then paraded around half-naked. He said the attacks ended only when he bit an assailant. He told the jurors that he thought the risk of being killed was better than continuing to be sexually molested.

"I was thinking, 'Oh, God, here it goes,' " the teen said. "I'm going to die tonight."

Upon learning about the rape assistant jailer Greg Wells, told the youth that he could take care of the molesters for a pack of cigarettes. "That wouldn't be enough," the teen recalled saying to him. All the teen said he asked for was medical treatment from the jail's nurse. His request wasn't granted.

"I told the nurse everything that happened, and I wanted to be checked for any kind of diseases, you know, any cuts or bruises or anything, and she didn't, she didn't do anything."

The jail’s former nurse, Sandra Cook, testified that her attempt to get the teen medical treatment for the assault was stopped by former Assistant Jailer Greg Wells. She said she called the FBI to report the jail staff’s actions when Wells said he would take care of the teen but instead just released him. Greg Wells, was never charged with a crime. It wasn't until the teen was released that he was able to get to a hospital.

In September 2005, the victim settled a lawsuit he filed against Grant County for $1.4 million.