Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mexico: Gang attacks, robs Christian youth camp, rapes 7 girls

(BBC) Police in Mexico have arrested 17 people in connection with last week's attack on a Christian youth camp.

Mexico State Governor Eruviel Avila said six had already confessed to the attack, in which a youth group was rounded up, beaten and robbed.

Seven girls were also sexually assaulted during the ordeal, which lasted for several hours.

The Christian group was camping in an ecological park near the town of Ixtapaluca, in Mexico state.

Governor Avila said 15 men and two women had been detained in connection with the crime.

He said some of the stolen items had been found in properties occupied by those detained in the nearby town of Chalco.

Prosecutor Alfredo Castillo said among those arrested were two police officers and an former member of the military.

About 90 members of the Christian youth group were sleeping in tents in the Colibri ecological park when the attackers burst into the camp firing shots into the air.

The campers were rounded up and held at gunpoint while their belongings were ransacked and some were assaulted.