Police May Have Coerced Boys to Confess to Gang Rape of 7-Year-Old

Boys Charged with Gang Rape of 7-Year-Old Forced to Confess

Two people familiar with the police interrogations of the two young boys accused of gang rape of a 7-year-old girl have stated that police may have coerced the boys in to a confession.

Two men, 20-year-old Gregory Leary (pictured below left) and 19-year-old Timear Lewis (pictured below right), along with three other boys, aged 13, 14 and 17, have been charged with gang-raping a girl at a party that happened on March 28. The girl's sister was charged with promoting prostitution, since it is alleged that she sold her little sister to the men who raped her.

Kevin Main, the attorney representing the 17-year-old, has reviewed police interrogations and is arguing that words may have been put in to the mouths of the men being accused of rape.

"Whatever they are agreeing to, it is with the expectation that they go home when they are done," Main said.

Last week, the little girl's stepfather said that Lewis, Leary and the 17-year-old were trying to help the girl and were not involved in the rape. The youngest boys were shown pictures and asked to sign the ones that showed people who were at the party.

"It's clear which [ones] police want them to sign and which ones they don't want them to sign," Main said. "At no time did they mention my client's name. When officers brought up my client's name, they got an 'uh-huh' out of one of the kids."

Main also argued that the police played the boys against one another during the interviews, stating that each one said he saw the other one engaged in sex with the child. The official sharing information with the Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from police. The official also stated that the 13-year-old cried for much of the interview and repeatedly asked for his mother.

After a great deal of questioning, both boys admitted that they had sex with the girl; however, they also stated that they felt pressured to make up a story and implicate others at the party, according to Main and the official.

"I should just make up a story to get it over with," the official recalls the 13-year-old boy saying.

I am not sure what's going on here, but whatever it is, it sounds dirty. New Jersey is a state with a disturbing number of very public, very violent crimes in recent history. A few months ago, a man threw his baby daughter off a bridge, and just a few weeks ago, a couple was robbed and killed right after their engagement party. While the criminals of New Jersey might be of a different breed, it is likely the case that the police may sometimes engage in desperate and unethical tactics to get the convictions they need. We cannot allow our hunger for justice to cause us to violate the civil rights of those being accused of this heinous crime, that would hurt all of us in the long run.

Here's a latest look in to the case:

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, 'Black American Money.' To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.