Officer: Gang rape suspect said sex was consensual
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A police officer says the first suspect arrested in the gang-rape of a teenage girl outside a high school homecoming dance in Northern California claims he had consensual sex with her.
Officer Gary Lewis testified Tuesday during a preliminary hearing in Contra Costa County Superior Court that 20-year-old Manuel Ortega said the girl wanted to have sex with him.
The Contra Costa Times reports that Lewis said Ortega was belligerent, drunk and even asked officers to kill him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ortega is one of seven males accused of raping the then-16-year-old girl outside the Richmond High School cane. Six of them could face life in prison if convicted.
Police found the partially nude victim lying underneath a picnic table after she was raped, beaten and robbed in October 2009.
Investigators say as many as 20 people watched without reporting the crime.
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Information from: Contra Costa Times