Chao Xiong, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
A Ramsey County judge sentenced a teenage defendant to eight years in prison Monday in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Judge Gail Chang Bohr told Xou Yang, 17, that his presentence investigation indicated he showed no remorse or empathy for the victim.
“I was struck by the sense that somehow she was to be blamed,” Bohr said of the investigation, which evaluates a person’s history and mindset.
Bohr continued: “No means no. Stop means stop. Nobody ever asks to be raped or to be injured. Your crime has had a tremendous impact on the victim.
“It is not her fault.”
Nine defendants, including four juveniles, were charged in March with plying the girl with alcohol at a party last November, taking her to a vacant house in St. Paul, dragging her inside and sexually assaulting her.
Authorities have said the defendants are members or associates of the TB22 street gang.
Yang pleaded guilty in July to conspiring to commit criminal sexual conduct and to committing a crime for the benefit of a gang. Four of the defendants have pleaded guilty, agreeing to testify if the remaining five defendants go to trial.
Yang was the second person sentenced in the case. Last week, Shaileng Shong Lor, 17, was given eight years in prison on the same charges.
Before Bohr spoke, Yang’s public defender, Susan Scarborough, told the court that he was remorseful for his actions and wanted to leave the gang.
