Youth to Be Tried as Juvenile in Group Sex Attack

A 16-year-old San Marcos boy, one of four juveniles and a 20-year-old man charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl during an unchaperoned Labor Day weekend party, will be tried as a juvenile and not as an adult as prosecutors had sought, a judge ruled Friday.

The girl was “unable to protect herself” from the group assault, was sexually attacked more than once with an undisclosed foreign object and was hospitalized afterward, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Windsor, who is prosecuting the juveniles.

Three boys--ages 14, 15 and 16--were charged with acting in concert in sexually assaulting the girl with a foreign object and causing great bodily harm. If convicted, the maximum sentence would put them in custody of the California Youth Authority until age 25. All three are being held in Juvenile Hall.

Windsor had hoped that the 16-year-old would be tried as an adult, as is permissible under state law when 16- and 17-year-olds are charged with one of 20 specific crimes of violence. If tried as an adult, the teen-ager could have been sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in state prison if convicted.

But Juvenile Court Judge S. Charles Wickersham said none of the five criteria that would justify trying the teen-ager as an adult--his record, his attitude, potential for rehabilitation and the sophistication and gravity of the charged offense--applied in this case.

“This particular event is ugly, serious. There’s no way to avoid that conclusion,” Wickersham said after reading the police and probation reports. But, because of the boy’s remorse and because he was admittedly under the influence of alcohol at the time, he should be tried as a juvenile, not as an adult, the judge ruled.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the less serious crime of sexual assault and will be tried as a juvenile. He is under house arrest, in the custody of his parents. The 20-year-old suspect, identified by the district attorney’s office as Pasquel Rojero of San Marcos, is being sought for arrest and was reported in court on Friday to be in Tijuana.

The attack allegedly occurred at a party at the home of a 15-year-old San Marcos boy who was left alone by his parents over the Labor Day weekend, according to investigators. Sheriff’s deputies had visited the house earlier in the evening because of complaints of noise, but left without incident.

According to witnesses at the party, the 14-year-old girl, perhaps having drunk a spiked beverage, passed out and was resting in a back bedroom when she was assaulted. Girlfriends who found out about the incident afterward took her to another house, then to Palomar Medical Center for treatment.

Robert Bourne, the defense attorney for the 16-year-old, who appeared in court Friday, told Wickersham that “up to 15 individuals were involved” in the attack, which allegedly was initiated by the 20-year-old.

Bourne said his client “absolutely (would) not” have participated in the attack if the girl had not already been partly disrobed by others. He said the teen-ager told police afterward that, “if this had happened to his sister, he’d be out looking for someone to kill him.”

“The whole thing, in retrospect, was extremely revolting to him,” Bourne said. “My client has been as truthful and candid as he could be with the probation officer,” who has recommended that the teen-ager be tried as a juvenile.

During the hearing, the youth dabbed his eyes with tissue while his father sat in the first row of the spectator section, listening to the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.

Senior probation officer Jim Smothermom told Wickersham that, when he interviewed the 16-year-old, he found him “extremely remorseful.”

“He feels a lot of guilt about what he had done,” Smothermom said. “He’s probably one of the most remorseful that I have ever run into. I do believe we can turn him around within the resources of the juvenile court system.”

But Windsor characterized the offense as “an act of violence . . . (involving) an unconscious victim” with no ability to protect herself from her attackers.

“They were making fun of her, laughing at her, thinking this was terribly funny,” she said of the attackers. “It was in concert, with each one egging on the other ones. We have a young girl who was a virgin who now is not.”

Windsor said the 20-year-old “apparently started” the attack but “as far as we can tell, this minor was the first to jump in. He was not a passive participant. He was an active participant.”

Wickersham chastised families who leave their children unsupervised for lengthy periods. He called the unchaperoned party “an ugly, unfortunate incident, which we now seem to accept in our society. This is the end result.”

Attorneys for both sides will meet Wednesday for a possible plea bargain before the case goes to trial.

Readiness conferences for the 14-, 15- and 17-year-olds--when pleas may be offered or trial dates set--are scheduled for Monday.