Prosecutors: 4 NJ Teens Charged In Sex Assault Of 15-Year-Old Girl
ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Four teenagers are facing charges in what authorities say was the sexual assault of a highly intoxicated 15-year-old girl that was recorded on a cellphone.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has charged three 18-year-olds, Justin Draper, Craig Howe and Ashari Wilson, with aggravated sexual assault. A 17-year-old faces the same charge as a juvenile.
The prosecutor's office said the assault took place in June behind the Elmwood Park home where Draper and Howe live. The girl was later found unconscious by her parents on the front lawn of her home.
The girl was taken to a hospital, where tests showed her blood-alcohol level was very high.
Roughly three weeks later, the girl, her parents and a friend went to police and told them the girl had reason to believe she had been involved in sexual activity with several men in the backyard of a home.
The girl could not recall the encounter but said she was informed by a 17-year-old male acquaintance that they had engaged in sexual activity that night. She later learned that cellphone video was taken showing her having sex with three individuals.
That video was subsequently recovered by detectives with the Bergen County prosecutor's office.
"We believe because of the alcohol that she ingested, there's just no way that she could form any type of consent to have sex with these men and we believe the men took advantage of that," Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told 1010 WINS.
Wilson is also charged with manufacturing child pornography, child endangerment, hindering apprehension and invasion of privacy.
"One of the additional charges we did file against the person who did the filming was the creation of child pornography," Molinelli said. "As a 15-year-old girl, filming something like this is child pornography."
Bail for Howe and Draper was set at $150,000 cash, while Wilson's bail was set at $200,000.
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