Previously, on this case, at WEJB/NSU:
“Panama City, Florida: Drugged, Raceless Girl is Gang-Raped in Front of Hundreds of Diverse Spring Break Celebrants, None of Whom Intervenes or Call Police, but at Least One Filmed Heinous Crime on His Cellphone for Entertainment Purposes; Crime is Not Discovered for One Month”; and
“More on that Panama City Gang Rape: What Big Media Don’t Want You to Know—It’s the Usual Suspects, and Probably the Usual Victim (Suspect Pictures, Video).”
Re-posted by Nicholas Stix
Sheriff: Hundreds watched 'gang rape' in Panama City Beach in broad daylight, did nothing to stop it
By Dennis Pillion | dpillion@al.com
April 11, 2015 at 11:11 A.M.
Updated April 12, 2015 at 12:43 A.M.
AL.com
Bay County (Fla.) Sheriff Frank McKeithen said he "will not back off" in seeking changes to tamp down spring break behavior in Panama City Beach Friday after two Troy University students were arrested in connection with a video that McKeithen said showed a "gang rape" that occurred on the beaches of Panama City Beach last month.
McKeithen said the video shows a 19-year-old victim who appeared to be incapacitated on a chair behind Spinnaker Beach Club when she was assaulted by multiple men. McKeithen said the incident occurred "in the broad, open daylight," and hundreds of bystanders did not try to stop the incident or report it to authorities.
"Within 10 feet from where this is happening there are hundreds, hundreds of people standing there watching, looking, seeing, hearing what is going on, and yet our culture and our society and our young people have got to the point where obviously this is acceptable somewhere, but I will tell you it is not acceptable in Bay County," McKeithen said.
He called the video "probably one of the most disgusting, repulsive, sickening things that I have seen this year on Panama City Beach, and I have seen a lot of them."
"This is disgusting," he said. "We have got to get control of our beaches, it is not safe for our children to be out there on the beaches when these animals are out there."
The victim told investigators that she believes she may have been drugged and that she did not report the incident because she did not remember what happened. The incident happened between March 10-12.
"You need to wake up and see what's going on," McKeithen said. "This is what we see every day."
The video surfaced on April 2. a shooting in Troy, Ala. The Troy Police Department discovered the video on a witness's cell phone, and turned it over to the BCSO, which charged Delonte' Martistee, 22, of Bainbridge, Ga., and Ryan Austin Calhoun, 23, of Mobile, with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators. Additional arrests are expected in the case.
Earlier this week, the BCSO held a press conference to highlight the volume of drugs and guns confiscated during this year's spring break, which was dramatically higher than in previous years. Among the 49 guns taken into evidence this year (up from nine in 2014), was the one used in the shooting at a house party that injured seven people.
WATCH: Guns, drugs seized during spring break, Panama City Beach, 4.8.15 Watch a press conference held by Bay County Sherriff's Office in Panama City, Fla. talk about guns, drugs seized during spring break. (Brian Kelly/bkelly@al.com)
At that press conference, Maj. Tommy Ford of the BCSO compared the criminal element of spring break to a cancer and said that like cancer, treatment for the "tumor" might cause harm to the rest of the body, meaning that businesses in the area might suffer as officials seek to gain control over a dangerous situation.
McKeithen has been among those pushing for stricter spring break ordinances, including one barring alcohol from the beaches and parking lots and one to prevent people under 21 from entering bars or clubs. Those measures will be considered at future meetings of both the Bay County Commission and the Panama City Beach City Council. McKeithen promised to be "more aggressive" in pursuing the new ordinances.
"I've asked for help, I've asked for changes more than one year, more than two years," McKeithen said. "We've asked, we've asked, people talk, people talk, people promise, and nothing gets done."
Videos from McKeithen's press conference are available from Panama City television stations WJGH and WMBB.
1 comment:
Those guys should be taken out back and put down like the dogs they are. But, there`s a big screaming but here, I read the woman didn`t know about this until she saw it on the news. And that`s too much for me. So after reading that I belive they should round up the guys and girl and take them all out back. The guys are discusting pigs, yes, but when you`re raped in public on a beach and you dont even know it happend, then I say f**** you, you skanky b****. It`s mindboggling, she didnt know about it! And if you have to tell people they have been raped, then I have no sympathy. This is a bunch of halfwits, all of them.
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