Four boys detained after playground rape of teenager, whose father was ordered to leave at gunpoint
PUBLISHED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 8:54am
UPDATED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 1:07pm
Reuters in New York
Some of the youths suspected of gang raping a teenage girl in a Brooklyn park are seen in a store surveillance video before the attack on Thursday. Photo: NYPD
Four teenagers have been taken into custody in New York after the horrific playground gang rape of an 18-year-old, whose attackers ordered her father to leave the scene at gunpoint before taking turns assaulting his daughter as he ran for help.
The detained suspects were two boys aged 14 and 15 who were turned in by their parents on Sunday, and two others aged 15 and 17 who were apprehended by police, the New York Times said. The detentions were confirmed by the New York Police Department on Twitter.
A fifth suspect remains at large, the NYPD said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had denounced the brazen attack, which took place on Thursday around 9pm in a Brooklyn park.
He pledged police would work to swiftly apprehend the suspects in “this vicious crime”. The detention of the four suspects came soon after the release of a store surveillance video that was said to show the attackers before the incident.
Police said on Saturday the men accosted the teenager and her father at the playground operated by the New York City Parks Department in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. One attacker pointed a gun at the father and told him to leave, police said.
They fled when her father returned a short while later, accompanied by two police officers.
The woman was treated at a hospital and released, police said.
The video released by police depicts a group of black youths in jackets and sweatshirts talking and laughing inside the store.
Police asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspects.
“We will take every step possible to find and swiftly prosecute the assailants of this vicious crime,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Every New Yorker in every neighbourhood deserves to feel safe and protected, and we will not stop until the perpetrators of this disturbing attack are held accountable for their actions.”
De Blasio and his police commissioner, Bill Bratton, have faced criticism over the perception that major crime is rising in America’s most populous city.
Major crimes reported dropped 1.7 per cent last year and by 5.8 per cent since de Blasio took office two years ago. But some categories have increased, according to a report issued earlier this month. Rapes were up 6.3 per cent last year.
