Six Texas Men Accused of Gang-Raping a 15-Year-Old Girl Face 1,600 Years In Prison: Justice?

On Wednesday, June 11, a Waco, TX grand jury indicted six young men accused of gang-raping a 15-year-old Hispanic girl.

Devoric Javon Evans, 20; Lamont Tray Davis, 19; Day’tron Derrell Smith, 18; Da’Juan Oshea Degrate, 18; and Cory Darnell Hall, 18; and Douglas Demond Canada, 19 collectively face more than an estimated 1,600 years in prison. Needless to say, if convicted all six of the young men could possibly spend the rest of their lives in prison.

According to NBC-DFW, the Waco Police Department was notified of the horrific incident on Wednesday, Apr. 23. Officers stated that they were called to a local hospital in regards to teen-aged girl who had allegedly been sexually assaulted. The young girl had reportedly skipped school with several friends. She was taken to a North Waco home were she was forced to engage in various sexual acts with the suspects involved. However, arrest warrants for the six suspects were not granted until May 8.

Local authorities also stated that a thorough investigation revealed that all six young men had some form of sexual involvement with the victim. However, when the young girl shared her account the horrific incident with authorities, she specifically stated that Douglas Canada was the first attacker. Canada reportedly raped the girl in a bathroom inside the house.

Due to his involvement, he has been charged with 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and three counts of sexual assault of a child. The other five men also face 13 counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault of a child, but only two counts of sexual assault of a child. The staggering charges equate to a maximum sentence of approximately 1,300 years in prison for each man.

But, why such a jaw-dropping sentence? Well the state of Texas considers the crime to be an “act of concert,” which makes each suspect responsible for the other’s crime. In a nutshell, since the men acted deliberately and collaboratively they’ve been held accountable for each other since no one took the initiative to stop the act.

Although life in prison may be befitting for the heinous crime, how do you feel the sentence? Is it befitting or excessive?

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