"Warrants: Gang rape lasted 14 hours at 3 houses"

[bluecoat28]

http://www.norwalkadvocate .com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.rape2dec22,0,6782482.story?coll=nor-news-local-headlines

Warrants: Gang rape lasted 14 hours at 3 houses

By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer

December 22, 2007

STAMFORD - Six men took turns having sex with a 24-year-old New Canaan woman during a gang rape that lasted 14 hours in three different houses in Stamford and Norwalk, according to two arrest warrant affidavits unsealed Thursday.

Four suspects have been charged with first-degree sexual assault, and police were searching for two others.

Lawyers and relatives of some of the four suspects said they are all innocent and that any sex was consensual.

A doctor who examined the woman at Norwalk Hospital on July 31, the day the incident ended, found bruises on her neck and parts of her arms, where she had been held down, an affidavit says.

The doctor also found injuries that are typical in rape cases. The victim is not sure whether any of her attackers wore condoms.

"It was obvious something happened," the doctor told police, according to the affidavit.

The victim picked at least three suspects out of a photo lineup, records show.

The affidavit gives the following account:

The attack started sometime at about 3 p.m. July 30, when a friend of the victim's, whom she knew as J.B., called and asked whether she wanted to smoke marijuana.

The victim agreed as long as J.B., later identified as Catragne Moresca, 27, of 50 Elmcroft Road, Stamford, did not bring cocaine; the victim had just completed a stint in a drug rehabilitation facility.

The victim's record and possible drug use during the alleged assault are likely to be central issues in the case, attorneys said.

"I question the motive of anyone who is supposed to see her probation officer hours after ingesting crack cocaine, marijuana and Hennessy over a 15-hour time span," said Michael Colombo, the attorney for one suspect, 20-year-old Carl Colas of 42 Merrell Ave., Apt. B43, Stamford.

Moresca arrived at the victim's New Canaan home with a cousin she knew only as "Cliff," the affidavit continues.

They picked up another friend, identified as "Jay," and stopped at Moresca's home on Elmcroft Road.

After the group smoked crack and drank liquor in Moresca's bedroom, the man the victim knew as Cliff tried to undo the victim's bra and her belt, she told police.

Cliff, later identified as Wilkens Placide, 24, of 13 Center Ave., Norwalk, then allegedly pinned the victim, stripped her and forced her to have sex over her protests, she told police.

The man she knew as Jay then came into the room and raped her. About 15 minutes later, Moresca entered and forced her to have sex.

The victim ran her fingernails across Moresca's back, hoping to preserve bits of his skin underneath as evidence, the affidavit states.

Moresca's attorney, Auden Grogins, did not return calls seeking comment.

The men then left her alone in the bedroom for about half an hour, locking the door from the outside. She told police she didn't scream for help because she was afraid they would hurt her.

She couldn't call police because she had forgotten her cell phone, the affidavit states.

The men returned, and the victim asked them to take her home.

Instead, at about 9 p.m., they drove her to a house on Stillwater Avenue. Inside, two more men whom she did not know ordered her to have sex with them.

She overheard the other suspects referring to the men as Star and Segall, the affidavit states.

Segall, later identified as Colas, and Star allegedly took turns raping the victim.

A sixth man, who is not identified by any name, entered the room and raped her minutes later, the affidavit states.

Police later found a paper with a phone number written on it next to the name Star in the victim's pocket. The victim told police she did not write the phone number and that Star must have slipped the note into her pocket, according to the affidavit.

Colombo said his client claims the victim asked for the suspect's phone number because she wanted to meet up again.

"The truth will come out in this case," he said.

The men took her to a third location in Norwalk and allegedly had sex with her for several more hours.

They dropped the woman off at her family's home in New Canaan at about 5 a.m. July 31.

"You know what will happen if you call the cops," Moresca reportedly told her.

She told her sister and her probation officer about the alleged assault, and they urged her to seek treatment at the hospital.

She picked Colas, Moresca and Placide out of police photo lineups in August, the affidavit states.

Police drove the victim around Stamford and Norwalk and had her point to the houses where the assaults occurred. She picked out homes where Moresca and Placide live.

Police arrested Moresca and Placide on rape and first-degree kidnapping charges in August. Both are being held on $750,000 bond.

Police arrested Colas in September and charged him with first-degree sexual assault. He is being held on $350,000 bond.

Police also have charged Cliff Cenelien, 20, of Stamford, with first-degree sexual assault. Cenelien was not mentioned by name in the affidavits unsealed Thursday.

All four suspects are due to appear Jan. 25 at state Superior Court in Stamford.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

[RGM]

Repugnant.

As is this: "The victim's record and possible drug use during the alleged assault are likely to be central issues in the case, attorneys said."

Because that's relevant.

[MaggieH]

This is awful...

The victim's record and possible drug use during the alleged assault are likely to be central issues in the case, attorneys said.

I hope they're not gonna blame the victim (as usual)...

I hate this whole fucking patriarchy!!!

[bluecoat28]

Got an editorial published in my town's newspaper. Hopefully I won't get backlash for it:

The normalization of rape

I am a twenty-two year old woman who grew up in New Canaan, and I was angered and saddened, but not surprised to read about the gang-rape of the twenty-four-year-old New Canaan woman.

I have a part-time job where I am around children and teenagers. I often hear young guys’ conversations: A high school guy once said, “I was raped by the math exam!” While playing video games, a boy said to his friend, "I raped you at Halo" (Halo is popular video game). A young man bumped into his male friend and the friend said, "Stop raping me!" Many young men tend to trivialize sexual assault. If you have a son, please tell him to stop making rape jokes. I am not surprised boys speak this way, because the average age of exposure to pornography is eleven years old* and contemporary pornography makes a joke out of sexual assault and eroticizes hatred of women. Women and girls cannot afford to ignore this any longer.

I would not be surprised if the guys who raped the woman internalized pornography’s pro-rape messages. You have been extremely influenced by a porn culture (rape culture), if upon learning about the gang rape you placed responsibility on the survivor for the violence committed against her.

People are desensitized to violence against women, because we currently live in a rape culture, a pornified culture (a culture in which raunchy, sexually explicit, and often sexist and racist themes and images pervade our daily lives*). Pornography is a multibillion dollar industry and it has power over big media. Music videos usually portray women’s bodies as sexual commodities and reality television shows such as The Girls Next Door portray the porn industry as glamorous. Instead of a pimp being seen as an exploiter of women’s and girls’ bodies, “pimp” has become a synonym for “cool”.

The mainstream media does a terrible job at educating the public about ending violence against women. Many television shows contain plots where women are sexually assaulted and murdered. Major news networks discuss the pregnant women murdered by their husbands or boyfriends often. Bodies of dead college women are commonplace on the news too. Crimes against women are typical, yet there is no critical discussion in the mainstream media about the epidemic of violence targeting women.

I graduated from the University of Connecticut with a major in Women's Studies and I was part of the violence against women prevention program at my school. I had a small community of like-minded folks at college, but since graduating, I find that I have to go to other towns and states to meet with people who want to end rape culture. I am seeking allies in New Canaan who are concerned about violence against women and girls. If anyone is interested in learning more about this topic, please be in touch with me.

- a feminist in New Canaan , [my name], [my email].

* Top Ten Reviews research firm
* Stop Porn Culture (organization)

[MaggieH]

Good article, Bluecoat28!

This is so courageous of you. I liked it.

Yeah, hopefully you won't get too much backlash for it (*fingers crossed*). Please let me know if you get any.

I hope it will make some people react, or at least understand a little bit!

[Moonlight]

bluecoat,

WOW!!!!!! That's so, so, so awesome!

I think at the very least it will wake up some parent's, mother's especially, who see how pornified our culture has become and our worried about both their daughters and sons. It could motivate them to be pro-active!!!

You rock!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[bluecoat28]

Thanks Maggie n Moon-- yes, three women have told me so far that they agreed with the article (two emails and one woman told me over the phone).

[MaggieH]

three women have told me so far that they agreed with the article (two emails and one woman told me over the phone).

Glad to hear that!

[SharkBait]

Yeah, three actually got in touch, but how many more read it and agreed with you but didn't get in touch?

Brilliantly written article, well done.

[oneangrygirl]

i didn't know you lived in new canaan.
i was in norwalk on sunday.