Rape charges were brought Tuesday against three Washington state teenage boys accused of assaulting an unconscious 15-year-old girl earlier this month and sharing evidence of the attack over Snapchat.
Prosecutors in Pierce County this week charged the three teens with second-degree rape and second-degree assault related to the March 14 incident near the girl’s Lakebay home.
Investigators believe the boys — ages 13, 14 and 17 — tied the girl up and sexually assaulted her after she passed out from drinking too much alcohol.
In charging documents, authorities claim the teens tied the girls ankles up with the cord from a hair-straightener, then dragged her behind a shed in her backyard and raped her with various objects.
Portions of the incident were captured on a witnesses’ cellphone, and videos and photographs were then shared over social media app Snapchat, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said, the News-Tribune reported.
The day after the incident, the older of the alleged assailants allegedly approached the mother of the girl and said “that if he got in trouble for what happened in the shed, he would go after her family and he would kill her,” according to charging documents.
“Our community is shocked,” prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Tuesday. “The investigation is ongoing and there will be full accountability.”
The two youngest boys pleaded not guilty in juvenile court Tuesday to second-degree rape and second-degree assault. A separate hearing has been scheduled to determine if the 17-year-old should be tried as an adult.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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