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Eighteen black boys and men are accused of gang-raping an 11-year-old Latina in this small East Texas town. What now?

Akiba Solomon

Mar 14, 2011
2:48PM ET

Until last week I had never heard of Cleveland, Texas, the small town where an 11-year-old Latina was gang raped, allegedly by 18 black males ages 14 to 27.
But since The Houston Chronicle told the victim’s story with compassion and a New York Times piece subtly blamed her ; since various news outlets have essentially tried and convicted the suspects with a widely circulated mugshot collage ; since Houston New Black Panther leader Quannell X sacrificed the victim in his zeal to raise questions about the police investigation; since Mujeres Unidas checked Quanell X ; and since white supremacist Web sites are partying about this tragedy like it’s 1799, tiny Cleveland, has become a major example of how not to deal with rape in our communities.
For clarity’s sake, I’m recapping the basics of this monstrous, quickly changing case based on local news reports. The stories don’t identify the victim or suspects who are under 18 and rely heavily on police sources and documents. Prosecutors are under gag order; I have not seen the documents firsthand.
The assault took place last November, three days after Thanksgiving. According to a Houston Chronicle story, it allegedly began when a 19-year-old with prior drug convictions called the sixth grader and invited her to ‘ride around’ with him and two friends. The guys allegedly picked her up from her home on the outskirts of town and took her to a house in the Quarters, the economically depressed, predominantly black section of Cleveland.
At this house, the guys allegedly demanded the victim remove her clothes. She resisted at first but told police she relented when they threatened to get a crew of girls to beat her up and said they’d leave her in the Quarters without a ride home. After she disrobed, the males allegedly took turns raping her. At some point four more arrived. When a relative came home, the group–including the girl–snuck out of a back window. They decamped to a fetid, filthy abandoned trailer nearby and continued the assault. It’s unclear how many boys and men came to the trailer. What we do know: Some participants used their cell phones to videotape and photograph the rapes.
Over 50 percent of rape victims don’t report their attack; this child was no different. Her mother told the Chronicle that she’d suspected something was wrong when a picture of a man’s penis popped up on a cell phone the girl had borrowed from her father. Her assault came to light only after video snaked its way through the corridors of the girl’s middle school. A classmate told the principal. The principal called the police.
So far, 18 boys and men have been charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14. According to Texas law, any bastard who penetrated this girl–and any sorry-ass who stood around watching–is guilty of rape.
Seven of the suspects are in high school, including two basketball stars. One alleged assailant is the 21-year old son of a school board member . Then we have a 21-year-old who is already facing charges for another sexual assault and a 19-year-old with a pending manslaughter charge. The 27-year-old has already served time for selling cocaine and assaulting a family member.
The girl has reportedly switched schools and is in foster care after receiving threatening phone calls.
Cleveland has a population of 7,675 people. It’s 46 percent white, 28 percent Hispanic and 24 percent black. Now, if the media coverage truly reflects conventional wisdom among its 1,819 black folks, many in it don’t see what happened to this girl as an alleged gang rape but a case of consensual group sex gone wrong.
Relatives of the accused and a double agent ridiculously incompetent defense attorney James D. Evans III have focused on her ‘much older’ appearance , her ‘attention-seeking,’ rumors of a previous sexual history in the Quarters, her alleged aspirations of porn stardom , a Facebook page where the child reportedly bragged about sex, alcohol and drugs, and her mother’s neglect (not the father’s; never the father’s). In an interview on the local news, Anita Ellis Hancock, the mother of a 19-year-old suspect, exemplified this attitude. If you can’t watch the video , an alarming excerpt:
FOX 26: What did you do? Did you talk to your son?
Hancock: Yes I did. Yes I did. I said, ‘Baby, I’m your momma. You can talk to me.’ (The victim) said she was 17 years old and that’s what he told me.
FOX 26: But Anita, a lot of people would say, ‘This is an 11 year old child. Even if she lied, she’s eleven.’
Hancock: I understand that. I understand that. I’m not defending him. I’m not defending her. I’m not defending no child because if it were my child, I would feel the same way. My point is, where was her mother?
FOX 26: If this was reversed. If your son wasn’t your son, but you were the mother of this 11 year old, what would you do? What would you say? What is justice?
Hancock: First of all, I would know where she was. That’s the justice. Not knowing where your baby is is not justice. I feel like she should be accounted for not knowing where your baby at.
FOX 26: What lesson does you son need to learn?
Hancock: ID . Identification. This (holding up nametag and picture) is what you ask for baby.
FOX 26: So you’re going to tell your son, next time he meets a girl to ask for her ID ?
Hancock’s words strike at the heart of a lethal double standard I’ve seen, hell, I’ve experienced too often in my community. I’m not picking on her; she’s trying to keep her son out of prison for 25 to life. But I believe she’s operating in a framework dangerous to her “baby.”
In this framework, girls of color are the predators, the fast-asses, the hot-asses, the hooker-hos, the groupie bitches, the trick-ass bitches, the bust-it-babies and the lil’ freaks who are willing to let dudes “run a train” on them. Too often let translates into, “she was rolling with a bunch of dudes” or “she showed poor judgement” or “she appropriated male-identified sexual bravado to fit in,” or “she’s a child who has been sexually exploited or abused.”
This double standard also renders black men and boys as victims of their own sexuality. They’re big-dick goon and goblin niggas just doing what niggas do when a smiling, or at least not-protesting young girl comes around. She’s 11? OK , but I didn’t know she was 11, so I didn’t do anything wrong, or violent, or exploitative or dangerous. My responsibility begins and ends with a request for ID .
My next post will offer expert measured insights on how black men can help one another recognize and interrupt rape culture. For now, my suggested ground rules for people who believe they’re protecting black men and boys but actually enabling toxic sexual behavior:
Colorlines is a daily news site where race matters, featuring award-winning in-depth reporting, news analysis, opinion and curation.
Colorlines is published by Race Forward , a national organization that advances racial justice through research, media and practice.

Story highlights Police investigating not only rape allegations but also possible violations of Brazil's Internet laws A 38-second video of the girl, naked and unconscious, has circulated on social media
The perpetrators put up pictures and a video of the girl on Twitter, sparking a nationwide backlash. The incident occurred in a Rio de Janeiro slum over the weekend.
At a press conference Friday, police said they had identified four people who were involved, including one man who appeared in the video, the girl's boyfriend and two people who were heard on the video.
Police are investigating not only rape allegations but also possible violations of Brazil's Internet laws
The state-run Agencia Brasil news agency said Saturday a man who taken into custody for questioning. Seventy officers were involved in the search for suspects and drugs were seized, Agencia Brasil said.
"The extreme violence we're dealing (with) has shocked everyone. It even shocked the police," said Fernando Veloso, the head of the civil police in Rio de Janeiro.
Interim President Michel Temer condemned what happened and called for an emergency meeting of security chiefs from all of Brazil's states on Tuesday.
"It is absurd that still in the 21st century we have to live with barbaric crimes like this," Temer said.
In Sao Paulo, a mural with messages of solidarity to the victim was erected Friday.
Online, people reacted with memes and posts calling out to an end to Brazil's "machista" culture and demanding justice for the alleged victim.
Police said the girl testified she went to her boyfriend's house Saturday and woke up in another house Sunday "with 33 men armed with rifles and guns."
Police said it was still unclear if there were "30 or 33 or 36" people involved.
They said the case was initially being investigated as a cybercrime when the video emerged at the beginning of the week and only later did the girl come forward.
A 38-second video of the girl, naked and unconscious, was circulated on social media.
In the video, two male voices are heard bragging about "more than 30" people having sexual intercourse with her. They show close-ups of her sexual organs and use vulgar language while poking at her.
One of the suspects also posted a selfie with the unconscious girl.
"Beyond the rape, the broadcasting of these images makes the life of the person eternally humiliating," Daniela Gusmao of the Brazilian Lawyers Association told Globo television.
Brazilians lashed out with anger on Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtags #estuprocoletivo or #gangrape and #estupronaotemjustificativa or "rape can't be justified."
On Facebook, users are posting slogans such as "we need to talk about the culture of rape" and "It wasn't 30 against 1, it was 30 against all of us!"
In one video on Facebook, a woman complains the media are ignoring the rape by "not one, not two, not 10 -- 30 men!"
In another video on YouTube, a series of women address the camera, with one saying, "Rape is a form of torture. It's one more form of torture," and it ends with the image of a girl crying and shaking her finger.
Others reacted in solidarity on Twitter, with @ClaraCryss writing, "being born a woman is living in the uncertainty if you are going to be the next victim of rape," and a user identified as nõviñhã noting, "Short clothes do not rape. Hours do not rape. Places do not rape. Drinks do not rape. Rapists rape."
© 2022 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.
Updated 2310 GMT (0710 HKT) May 28, 2016
Rio de Janeiro (CNN) Brazilian police are searching for at least 30 people suspected in the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl and of posting graphic video and images of her on social media that have shocked the South American country .
CNN's Flora Charner contributed to this report.

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