
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080779
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAKE WORTH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short

NINE BOYS, 8 TO 13, FACE RAPE CHARGES

Nine boys ages 8 to 13 were arrested for allegedly breaking into a 13-year-old schoolmate's house and repeatedly raping her, police said.

The youths were charged with sexual battery, burglary and kidnapping, Lt. Robert Walton said.

All nine boys and the girl attend an elementary school in Lake Worth, police and school officials said. The boys, who weren't identified because of their ages, were arrested at school Wednesday.

Walton said the girl was home alone Tuesday when one of the youths smashed a window, crawled inside and let his companions in through a door.

The group forced their victim into a bedroom, tore off her clothes and took turns raping her, Walton said.

"She was grabbed around her neck and she was threatened with injury," he said.

He said the boys fled when they were interrupted by an unidentified passerby who contacted police. The girl was treated at a hospital and released.

by CNB