BOISE, Idaho—Three southwestern Idaho men have been charged with raping a woman, and a 16-year-old juvenile has also been taken into custody.
Nineteen-year-old Elias Lupango, 18-year-old Rashidi Mulanga and 18-year-old Swedi Iyombelo, all of Boise, were charged in 4th District Court on Feb. 15. Bail was set at $250,000.
The 16-year-old was arrested Friday and was being held in juvenile detention.
UPDATED STORY: Men accused of Kuna gang-rape arraigned; protest innocence to judgehttps://t.co/GeZRhn2eWf pic.twitter.com/FAHDHe4zQ5
— KTVB.COM (@KTVB) February 15, 2019
Prosecutors say the three men are from Tanzania.
Authorities say the 18-year-old woman was raped on or around Feb. 7 after agreeing to meet one of the men.
Authorities say the woman initially consented to having sex with Iyombelo, but then told him to stop. Police say the three other defendants then took turns raping the victim.
The alleged victim, who was not named, said she was afraid the men would kill her, the Idaho Statesman reported.
The woman was “prevented from resistance due to an objectionable, reasonable belief that resistance would be futile or would result in violence,” said a police complaint.
A prosecutor said the woman reached out to the men and told them what they did was wrong, and they agreed and apologized.
Police took over the victim’s social media account after she contacted local law enforcement, and they agreed that the suspects would meet the victim again.
The three men told the court the accusations are false.
UPDATE: Men accused of Kuna gang-rape arraigned; protest innocence to judgeSTORY: on.ktvb.com/2NabnUf
Gepostet von KTVB am Freitag, 15. Februar 2019
Another hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 27.
Officials said that felony rape is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
The bond was set at $250,000 for each of the defendants.
Gepostet von Idaho Statesman am Freitag, 15. Februar 2019
Violent Crime Down
On a more positive note, violent and property crimes have seen a downward trend, according to statistics collected by the FBI. Some areas, however, have significantly deteriorated and others, despite improvements, still need attention.
The violent crime rate—including offenses such as murder, robbery, and aggravated assault—dropped by almost one percent and is still about 4 percent above the 2014 rate. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent.
The decline in crime, albeit small, cut short a worrisome spike in violence in previous years. Between 2014 and 2016, the murder rate had increased by more than 20 percent, to 5.4 per 100,000 residents, from 4.4. The last two-year period that the rate soared so quickly was between 1966 and 1968.
The rate of property crimes, such as theft and burglary, has declined 3.6 percent since 2016 and is down more than 26 percent since a decade ago.
The Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
