Teen, 17, who raped girl while friends banged on door asking for a 'turn', gets charged with criminal sexual conduct
Joshua Allen Hughes from Myrtle Beach, California, has been formally charged with criminal sexual conduct and pointing and presenting a firearm. 17-year-old Joshua was earlier arrested after he raped a 16-year-old girl and threatening her with a gun. The victim told the authorities that she had been picked up by Hughes after they had a conversation on Snapchat on June 6.
According to WBTW, the victim had told the police that Hughes had been "accompanied" by three other teenage boys who were in another car. She told the authorities that she went to a bedroom upstairs with Hughes who then started to kiss her.
The police report stated that the victim had to go through "contact that was unwanted" from Hughes even though she told him to stop. She then said that the teen started raping her as the boys "began to bang and yell outside the door". They then started shouting at Hughes from outside to "let them in so they could have a turn".
The terrified girl then managed to get away from the four boys who followed her into the garage where they proceeded to "point firearms at her". She claimed that they then "began to taunt her about the incident". She was finally able to contact a friend of hers and managed to leave the house. Hughes was subsequently put into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on June 12. He has been released to home detention. There has been no talk of the other friends.
In another incident, a 14-year-old girl from Virginia had claimed that the high school she was studying in did not take any steps to stop the unwanted encounters she was having with a boy who had been arrested for sexually assaulting the girl even after a court had ordered that the school prevent them from meeting.
The girl sat down with the Washington Post earlier this week and told them in length how the random meetings would make her feel "powerless" and this would lead to her memories being triggered of the day she was attacked. She said: "It’s hard to know what was more traumatizing — what’s happened then or what’s happening now. I’ve been re-traumatized going to school. I’m not getting the proper education I deserve, and I feel powerless."
Her identity was not revealed because of her age. The girl claimed that while she was still on campus at the John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia, she had been forced into the situation where she had to see him on a daily basis.
The girl's mother told the publication that her daughter was in her first and second period classes just a few rooms down from the boy this year. She also said that the two teens saw each other on a regular basis throughout the spring semester of this year. The mother said that her daughter had filed a sexual harassment complaint with the school district in April and had even gone into detail on the contact but nothing was done to prevent any encounters.
The girl said: "I shouldn’t be limited and I shouldn’t be punished for being strong and going to high school." The Post got a hold of legal documents that say in an incident that took place in July 2017, the girl was allegedly "abducted" and then assaulted by the boy. The girl had said that she never spoke to the boy before and knew him only because they both studied in the same middle school together. They had met each other at a park on the day of the incident through a mutual friend of theirs but the complaint went on to state that this mutual friend left them alone after some time.
The boy then allegedly pinned down the girl when they were alone and started fondling her breasts. She also claimed that the boy started rubbing his genitals on her. The entire encounter lasted for about an hour and the girl was allegedly left with bruises on her wrists and her breasts. The mother found out about the alleged assault later on the same day and then told the police.
Initially, the boy was charged with abduction and sexual battery but then he took a plea deal from the prosecutors of the case who were from the juvenile and domestic relations court in Winchester. They agreed to get rid of the abduction charge and also reduce the sexual battery to a simple assault and battery on the condition that the boy complied with the terms of supervision agreement he had been handed. School officials did not seem to take this seriously as his only job was to stay away from his alleged victim.
The girl and her mother had claimed that the school district had violated a federal law, which is known as Title IX and which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. They mother-daughter duo believe that the encounters had interfered with the girl's daily schooling and had prevented her from receiving a proper education from the school.
After the interview with the girl was published in the Post on June 19, she tweeted: "K12 students are legally required to attend school, so it is like I am legally required to be in fear."
She continued: "Because my school refused to keep me safe, I missed over 30 full/partial days this semester. I filed a new #TitleIX complaint on Apr 23. The investigation should have finished by May 14, but it didn’t even start until May 15 and is still dragging on as of June 19."
Jason Van Heuklum, the school district superintendent, said: "Winchester Public Schools takes its responsibilities under these policies very seriously. We are also committed to redressing any behavior found in violation of our policies."