Boys will be boys - so seems to be the message coming from classmates of five high school students accused of videotaping group sex with a "troubled" 16-year-old girl secretly. The classmates are said to have circulated a petition in defense of the videotapers, who've been hit with child porn charges.
The five, including three seniors, have been suspended indefinitely from Concord- Carlisle High School for making the fifteen-minute tape in a Concord home Oct. 1, says the Boston Herald. ``They're all wicked good kids,'' sophomore Doug Reid, a friend of the youngest suspect, tells the paper. ``They shouldn't be suspended, especially because nobody knows what really happened.''
The video shows the five students having sex with the girl, who's a member of the Concord Assabet Family and Adolescent Services program for troubled girls, the Herald says. Police say the tape was seen by at least two other students but lack evidence that the tape was copied. Police also say the sex was consensual and there's no evidence suggesting rape - but the boys are charged under a Massachussetts law banning anyone under 18 from being videotaped while having sex, even as the age for consensual sex in the state is 16.
None of the accused students, whose ages range from 18 to 16, are said to have criminal records - but the Herald says the three seniors involved in the case could end up missing graduation if the case lingers in court.
The five could also face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. State law requires the five to have alternative education until the case is resolved.
An attorney for one of the suspects tells the Herald the entire episode began with the girl wanting to make her boyfriend jealous. The girl reportedly went to police after she was harassed by other students who knew of or saw the tape, the paper says, adding that a source who saw the tape says the camera was hidden and the girl was told "no" when she asked if the sexual encounter was being taped.
Another attorney in the case says the tape ends when the girl became aware she was being taped.
