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LAPD have arrested nine Venice High School students and are searching for five others accused of sexual assaulting two teen girls several times on and off campus.
Police say they have arrested eight suspects on campus and one off campus this morning. They are still looking for five more suspects, according to City News Service. All of the suspects are between 14 and 17, and the victims are also underage. School officials reported a possible sexual assault on Tuesday to the LAPD.
"Our detectives from the LAPD's Special Assault Section responded, and they conducted an investigation," LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said during a press conference this morning. He added, "They continued their investigation over the next day, and they were able to identify 14 subjects that we believe are responsible for these sexual assaults and unlawful sex acts."
Smith said that some of the sexual activity was consensual and some of it was not, according to the Los Angeles Times.
LAUSD sent out a statement about the case:
"The Los Angeles Unified School District is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation by LAPD and School Police. Parents of the suspects have been notified. "This is a painful moment for Venice High School, and this District. I want you to know that no sexual misconduct of any kind by students or staff will ever be tolerated in L. A. Unified.
"Crisis counselors are on campus today to assist students who might be affected."
UPDATE 5 p.m.: The Los Angeles Times says that detectives have discovered photographs showing some of the sex acts, including one that has been circulated on social media. Police said they moved quickly in this case to stop any other crimes from happening. Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told the Times, "We didn’t want to leave the suspects out there to potentially victimize other girls at the school. The last thing we wanted was to have another victim."
UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: A source from LAUSD told the Los Angeles Times that a group of male students allegedly threatened to ruin the reputations of the victims in order to pressure the girls into having sex with them. Police said some of the alleged incidents date back to 2013 but most happened in the last two months with some as recent as this month.
