Richmond Gang Rape 911 Caller Speaks: Margarita Vargas Heard About Attack, Reported It

A 15-year-old girl who was raped, robbed and beaten by multiple attackers outside of her high school homecoming dance was found by police after 18-year-old Margarita Vargas, undaunted by pressure to keep quiet, called 911.

Vargas called police after her brother-in-law told her about an attack at Richmond High School in Richmond, Calif. CBS:

"I was watching a movie, and my brother-in-law came in and he told me 'I don't know what to do, because there is a girl back there and she has been raped. I'm scared,'" 18-year-old Margarita Vargas said.

"I'm like 'We should call the cops because that's the right thing to do.' I didn't think about it twice."

Relaying what she knew, Vargas called police without even witnessing the crime. She arrived after police and saw the victim being taken away. Vargas told CNN that she was proud of herself. Referring to a culture of silence, Vargas told CNN that there's a common saying around Richmond "snitches get stitches."

Police believe up to 10 people participated in the Oct. 24 assault and that as many as a dozen people watched, laughed and took pictures while it happened. Seven suspects have been arrested, though 1 has been released. According to a report by KTVU News, at least 4 of the suspects are teenagers and face life in prison. One suspect is 21.

The victim released a statement last Tuesday, urging supporters to look past their anger and work for change to keep people safe.

According to police, the 15-year-old who was attacked, left her high school dance Oct. 24 and was expected to meet her father. He was looking for her while the attack took place.

Comments

[MapleApe]

The way the attackers were encouraged by the mob that included people who allegedly recorded the brutal rape and beating is a part of the same mentality that led to this horrific attack.
There are students who have threatened girls trying to find the recordings and pictures of the assault for evidence and some ignorant thugs have even said that if the accused go to jail they will harm her when she returns to the school.

Those who cheered the gang rape should be charged with aiding and abetting and those who recorded it should be charged with the production, possession and distribution of child pornography.
Society must have a zero tolerance for these attitudes and no stone should be left unturned to punish those involved and to drive home that a civilized society will not tolerate the violence or the thuggish mentality that created and condones it.

[Lambpie]

How smart is it to put it out there that Margarita was the person to phone? I hope nothing happens to this girl.

[amaycatbaker]

This is going to be a very unpopular statement, and the girl NEVER should have had this happen to her, so here it goes.

We teach in school that you need a pill for self control. I know ADHD people say it is needed for the child to sit still and learn.

This is a consequence to that teaching, a pill gives self control. Those boys were probably told that they don't have control over their behaviors. Some might have been on a pill to control behavior. Pills don't solve everything and self control needs to be taught, not prescribed.

[nelgom]

Unpopular statement? How in the world did you assume that those "boys" were given pills? I mean, what facts do you have? This girl was raped and you are somehow concern that society is over prescribing to our kids? This is by far one of the most ignorant statement I've ever read here. Please go back to your Scientologist basement. Oh, you are not a scientologist? Well, I just assume because of your stupidity and lack of compassion for what happened.

[amaycatbaker]

Well,
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html
From this site-
"-4.5 million children 5-17 years of age have ever been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2006. [Read article]
-3%-7% of school-aged children suffer from ADHD. Some studies have estimated higher rates in community samples.1
-7.8% of school-aged children were reported to have an ADHD diagnosis by their parent in 2003. [Read article]
-
*****Diagnosis of ADHD increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006. [Read article]********
-Boys (9.5%) are more likely than girls (5.9%) to have been diagnosed with ADHD. [Read article]
-ADHD diagnosis is significantly higher among non-Hispanic, primarily English-speaking, and insured children. [Read article]
-Prevalence rates are significantly higher for children in families in which the most highly educated adult was a high school graduate (or had completed 12 years of education), compared with children in families in which the most highly educated adult had a higher or lower level of education. [Read article]
******-ADHD diagnosis among males was reported significantly more often in families with incomes below the poverty threshold (

[amaycatbaker]

The two things I will highlight are starred. This means the diagnosis grows per year, meaning if these boys were not diagnosed they have been around someone who has, that is teaching those children "this person needs a pill to control behavior", some might think that they might need the pill too, ADULTs are now getting diagnosed too because of the "ME too" thinking.

Second poor schools want this diagnosis more, MONEY gets paid out to schools for disabilities. So this is the quick and dirty way to generate revenue.

One way or another us ADULTS have to acknowledge that behavior does not come in a pill.

[Brendan H]

And the award for most out there theory as to why this happened goes to....

[amaycatbaker]

It might be out there but it is a possible defense for the boys. AS I stated this never should have happened.

[gotborked]

I understand what you're saying, but it's not an excuse.

A teenager does not need to be told that they should not gang-rape a girl.

[Mafdet]

Margarita Vargas rocks.

[DRaymond]

It might be easy to take a holier-than-thou attitude about 'those people' in Richmond or 'what has become of us'. But mobs are dangerous, have happened pretty much everywhere and every era, and the fact that this was a sex crime is mostly irrelevant. Pretty much the same sequence of events could have happened with a beating or mugging.

It isn't really surprising that the call was made by a person essentially alone and away from the events. That ment that they hadn't been exposed to the intimidation of the mob mentality. Her brother was probably raised with the same values, but he 'didn't know what to do' because his head was clouded by the implicit intimidation of the mob.

[T Specter]

How dare you defend those Punk B*TCHES.

[Brendan H]

Attempting to understand what happened and why it happened is valuable in preventing further attacks. Yet every time someone tries to do that, someone else inevitably calls it "defense".

[DRaymond]

Defend? My heavens no!

My point was that there seemed to be a lot of people taking a 'it couldn't happen here' approach by describing the events as some sort of freak abberation of human nature.and that there must be something very strange and disturbing about Richmond or about the year 2009 for this to have happened. That might be somehow comforting, but it is not the truth.

[donald5]

Heresay. Keep printing and promoting heresay.

[GodBlessAmerica]

Dude, HEARSAY about a *crime in progress* is good enough reason to call the police and initiate an investigation.

And as it turned out, what you discount to be "hearsay" was actually correct -- a horrible crime had just occurred. Maybe the details of what she heard aren't admissable at a trial -- but these detective types can find independent evidence based on, you know, LEADS!

And I'll argue the point that HuffPost is "promoting" anything in this article.

[considerthis]

Hearsay is an out of court statement that may or may not be used for the truth of the matter in a trial/hearing depending on how it fits into the rules of evidence. It has absolutly nothing to do with reporting a crime.

[Brendan H]

Just because something has yet to be proven in court doesn't mean the case isn't news. Are you in the Fort Hood shooter article calling that hearsay too? I mean, that guy hasn't been found guilty yet!

[techjockey]

Perhaps there is no possibility of prosecuting the onlookers, but lets get all of their names out there in the local & national media for a good old public shaming.
It will shame their derelict parents & hopefully eradicate any possibility of any of them taking up valuable space in our colleges & upward bound programs.
This is a one strike & you're out offense & I hope they pay for the rest of their miserable lives.

[alienator]

well said....i think shaming the onlookers is an excellent idea....fanned

[donald5]

Yes because standing in a public place is a crime as we all know.

[Brendan H]

How about we let the court mete out justice, instead of inspiring vigilanteism.

But that's just me and that craaaaaaazy Constitution.

[alienator]

don't read the constitution much?

[corte33]

A bunch of punks raped a girl. These punks should get some prison time, and have their butts reamed.

[rudolph]

This is a ghastly country...a hellish place to be poor or vulnerable.

[samuelberg]

You must not have lived in other parts of the world. This wouldn't make the news in some countries because this is as common as jaywalking.

[Brendan H]

Compared to many industrialized nations, he isn't wrong.

[alexii]

Life in prison sounds good to me.

[earthbelowus]

I can't believe that it has come to this. From her father looking for her to people watching this happen.I remember when people would throw things in this one girl's hair and I remember thinking this girl goes home to her family and when they ask her how her day was what is she going to say . Even that brings me to tears. This is sick, there is absolutely no excuse for this behavior, none.

[ipastor01]

lol.... really...lol... take a look at the page photo for this article, (not if you got kids in the room) changed

[alienator]

huh?

[jasev01]

Who does this seriously?

[dav ram58]

Kids think that it's cool to go around saying those little catch phrases, "Snitches get stitches." Bunch of followers.

[Killjoy]

hummm..let see... your with a group of guys drinkiing and your the only female there...what to do? Stay and drink with them or leave. No matter the out come of any situation you have to consider the initial choice/ decision making. She should have never put herself in that situation. with that said. This is what our society have come to. Our up bringing and concience no longer prevent us from doing whats wrong even when we know what the right. This is past sad. Only we alone are responsible for our immediate safety. Anything after that is just what ifs.

[RifRaf]

She is a 15-year old girl a$$hat. A minor. Girls even, women older than her get taken advantage of experience sexual assault, date rape etc. This happens DAILY. People are responsible for their safety sure, but no one should ever have to pay that price - especially with CROWDS of people watching for spectacle.

This isn't simply about "personal responsibility" this is rape, its disgusting, plain and simple. I'd like to see you apply this grandstanding "ABC after school special" theorizing bullcrap, shrug and say "that is just what it is" were it a girl in your family.

[hamchunk]

I agree with you totally about personal responsibility. In a civilized society, this should neve r happen. But why is no one talking about the 800lb gorilla in the room? Th ethnicity of the victim and the perpetrators?

[pipetoe]

She is 15, and probably doesn't have that kind of guidance in her family....They probably have let her make all her own choices.

[RifRaf]

Y'know I'm not sure about the lack of guidance, remember her father was at the school to pick her up from the dance. That' doesn't sound like a parent who wouldn't be involved or give guidance to their child. I mean some parents would even let their kids return home with friends, boyfriends, etc. in this situation- that doesn't make them horrible parents. Just means they trust their kids.

I dunno, I just think this case is too blatant to lay blame anywhere other than where it squarely lies - on her attackers.

[satanlite]

You don't know what happened. Stop pretending you do.

[eeepluribus]

Did you read the story? She was leaving a dance and looking for her father who was picking her up. Her father was looking for her as this was happening to her. It is one of the most horrible things I have ever read. You disgust me. You are the reason these crimes continue in this country.

[eeepluribus]

Only we alone are responsible for our immediate safety

Easy for a man to say.

[Killjoy]

Its funny how you all feel that this poor girl could not avoid this rape. It could have been avoided..this has nothing to do with me blaming her for what happening. Thats not what i'm doing. I'm simply stating that we must be way more carefull now a days that ever before. Stop attemping to paint women as weak. This whole thing unfortunately is a learning lesson..what do you think other women who read about this story going to do prior to God forbid get themselves in a situation like that? How can you teach your children to look both ways before crossing the street and not teach them to be on the ball in these times. Man you ppl sickens me.