9 gang members charged in rape of St. Paul girl, 14

Emily Gurnon, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. –

Nine gang members, including five men and four juveniles, have been charged in the rape of a 14-year-old St. Paul girl.

Those charged in the Nov. 17 incident were members of the True Blood 22 (TB22) gang or associated with the Blood Brothers gang, said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.

All are in custody.

“The facts outlined in this (criminal) complaint are horrible,” Choi said at a Friday, March 23 news conference. “Too often, this is what criminal gangs do, and that is why we must do everything we can to bring them to justice and stop them.”

The girl “is currently in a safe place where services are being offered,” Choi said. It was not clear whether she was living at home or at another location.

St. Paul police Senior Commander Todd Axtell urged anyone else who has been the victim of a rape by True Blood 22 or another gang to call the police Gang Hotline at (651) 266-5680.

During a Nov. 23 interview at Children’s Hospital, the victim in the Nov. 17 rape said she had been picked up at her school by Mang Yang, 24, and they went to a party with a female friend, according to criminal complaints filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court.

Investigators determined that the party was at 543 Maryland Ave. in St. Paul.

They then went to an abandoned house at 219 White Bear Ave. in St. Paul, where at least two of the men raped the girl, she and witnesses said, according to the complaints.

Both houses were owned or occupied by Kong Vang, 38, who

was known as “OC.”

The complaints give these additional details:

The victim recognized Kong Meng Vang, as well as Van Chai Xiong, 18, and the four juveniles: Jim Her, 17; Shaileng Shong Lor, 16; Xou Yang, 16; and a fourth juvenile who was not immediately named because he is 15.

The county attorney’s office has filed petitions to have all the juveniles certified to stand trial as adults.

All the people at the house except Kong Vang were in the True Blood 22 gang, the victim reported; she said Kong Vang was in a different gang because he was older.

At one point, the victim got in Mang Yang’s vehicle with her friend because they wanted to go home. The friend told the police that she “had a feeling that something was going to happen because the guys at the party tried to separate the two of them.”

She and the victim went to Mang Yang’s vehicle, wanting to go home. The friend tried to call for a ride, since she thought Mang Yang was “stalling.” She then walked to the road to look for street signs so that she could give her location.

Mang Yang, Shaileng Lor and the 15-year-old followed the girls to the car. While her friend was apparently looking for their location, the victim was dragged out of the car by Lor and the 15-year-old.

They carried her back to the house and put her in a bedroom that had a mattress on the floor.

“The victim reported grabbing whatever she could, including door frames, to stop them from bringing her into the bedroom,” the complaint said. She called for Mang Yang to help her, but “he stated he had to go.”

A group of men were in the bedroom as the girl screamed and tried to escape. She said people held her down and tried to open her legs. They removed her pants and underwear and one or two touched her vaginal area, she said.

One of the juveniles later told police that two “big dudes” held the girl down, and that at least two raped her. He said they stopped because Kong Vang thought the victim’s friend had called police and he yelled a warning to everyone.

There is nothing in the complaint to confirm that police were called or that they responded to the incident that night.

Mang Yang later told police that he knew the males were planning to rape the girl.

“He stated he knew this because the guys at the party were smiling and excited and were trying to get the girls drunk so they could rape them,” the complaint said.

“Yang stated this had happened once before,” the complaint said. “Yang stated it is the gang’s intent every time they get girls to party with them to get them drunk and rape them.”

He told police that he saw the four juveniles and three of the adults run out of the bedroom after the assaults. Van Chai Xiong had been acting as a looking from the kitchen, Mang Yang told police.

The 15-year-old told police that he held the victim’s arm during the attack “because Mang Yang told him to” and because the girl was thrashing and kicking to try to get free. He said Xue Yang hold onto another arm while Shaileng Lor held her left leg and Vang Vue penetrated her.

He said “he remembered the victim screaming for her friend and yelling ‘stop,’ ” the complaints said.

The girl had blood on her underwear, she told the Children’s Hospital nurse.

Charged with aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct were Kong Meng Vang, 38; Van Chai Xiong, 18; Vang Tou Ger Vue, 19; Mang Yang, 24; Mitchell Teng Yang, 22; and the four juveniles.

The nine also were charged with conspiracy to commit criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang.

Jim Her showed investigators a gang tattoo and said that he is a TB22 member. He said he was in the bedroom during the assaults and that “at least two guys” raped the girl.

Shaileng Lor said he had been a Blood Brother gang member for a year, and that the Blood Brothers hang out with the TB22 gang. He said he had been at the initial party but did not go to the party at the abandoned house.

Xou Yang said he never went inside the second house.

Vang Vue and Kong Vang requested attorneys and refused to speak with police. They had not located Mitchell Yang and Van Chai Xiong by the time the complaints were filed.

All nine suspects were being held Friday at the Ramsey County jail.