Gregory Wagner Charged As Adult In Brutal Gang Rape, Could Face 80 Years In Prison: Justice?


Gregory Wagner, a 17-year-old from West Allis, Wisconsin, will face charges as an adult for the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl.

The runaway said she was given a drink known as “lean” or “purple drank” made of Sprite and cough syrup, West Allis Police explain. The intended effect is to make the drinker extremely drowsy.

Police accuse Wagner and a 16-year-old boy of taking off the girl’s clothes and then raping her while she was unable to defend herself.

After each committed rape, police allege, they left and brought back a third underage boy, who wanted to participate as well.

Fox6Now reports that the gang rape was so brutal, the girl “was bleeding” afterward.

During one of the alleged rapes, she told police that she noticed a bright light that she later realized was a video camera.

Authorities said that at least one copy of the video made it out to Facebook, and they were able to capture it for evidence.

Jessica Johnson of the West Allis Police Department describes her reaction when she saw the people involved.

“These kids we’ve had an eye on for awhile — involved in many types of activity. When the names came up of who was involved, we can’t say we were surprised at all.”

While the other boys will be facing charges in a juvenile court, Gregory Wagner will have to face the full brunt of the crime. He’ll find out more at the preliminary hearing to be held June 17.

In a separate report from WISN, the two juveniles were identified as “15-year-olds,” which contradicts the Fox6Now report that said one was 16. Even so, there is agreement that the others will be tried as juveniles while Wagner will get charged with two counts of child sexual assault, and if convicted, he’ll be forced onto the sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

While the crime is no doubt horrible, some don’t believe that kids like Gregory Wagner should ever be tried as adults.

Take this op-ed from CNN‘s Robert Schwartz entitled, “Kids should never be tried as adults.”

In it, Schwartz argues that there is no shame in trying underage offenders through juvenile courts and keeping them until they reach the age of 21.

“It is certainly long enough to serve the needs of public protection, and enough time to rehabilitate a child,” Schwartz writes.

But what do you think, readers? Should Gregory Wagner — or any 17-year-old for that matter — be tried as an adult? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via Fox6Now, linked above]

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