DNA testing delays cases of Texas men accused of gang raping 11-year-old girl
(CBS/AP) LIBERTY, Texas - The cases of seven Texas men accused of a series of sexual assaults on an 11-year-old girl were pushed back Wednesday until October due to delays in DNA testing.
The seven men, who are part of a group of 14 men and 5 juvenile boys charged in the assaults on the 11-year-old, appeared in state district court for status updates on their cases.
Prosecutor Joe Warren asked for the cases to be pushed back until the DNA testing evidence is completed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which could take another four to six weeks.
"I'm going to pressure the state to pressure the DPS lab to get whatever analysis as quickly as possible," state District Judge Mare Morefield said.
An investigation into the assaults began in December, after one of the girl's friends told a teacher he had seen a lurid cell phone video that showed the girl being raped in an abandoned trailer.
Authorities say the girl was assaulted on at least five occasions, sometimes by as many as seven or eight young men or boys at a time, from mid-September to early December in Cleveland, a small town about 45 miles northeast of Houston. Court proceedings are being held in the nearby town of Liberty, the county seat.
The suspects range in age from a middle-school student to a 27-year-old, and include two star athletes at the local high school as well as adults with criminal records.
Most of the adult suspects face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, while four face a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child. Most have pleaded not guilty and are free on bond, while one, 26-year-old Marcus Porchia was charged after arrest with sexually assaulting another girl in an unrelated case.
The girl, now 12, remains in foster care while her parents, who have health problems and moved out of Cleveland after receiving threatening phone calls, work with state child welfare authorities to get her back.
The seven men are scheduled to return to court on October 3.
Complete coverage of the 11-year-old gang rape case on Crimesider