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Will Venice High students be charged as minors or adults?

A school bus is parked outside the Venice High School, where police are investigating allegations of the sexual assault of students at the school in Venice Beach, California on March 14, 2015.  Police today are continuing their search for four male suspects who were allegedly part of a group of 14 accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls at the school.                AFP PHOTO/MARK RALSTON        (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
A school bus is parked outside the Venice High School, where police are investigating allegations of the sexual assault of students at the school in Venice Beach, California on March 14, 2015. Police today are continuing their search for four male suspects who were allegedly part of a group of 14 accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls at the school.

10 students have been arrested in connection with sex crimes against two female classmates at Venice High School, and investigators are searching for four more students who are believed to have participated in the criminal activities.

10 students have been arrested in connection with sex crimes against two female classmates at Venice High School, and investigators are searching for four more students who are believed to have participated in the criminal activities.

Authorities believe the crimes started in 2013, some consensual and others coerced. While the investigation is still underway, both of the female victims have been interviewed by LAPD investigators “at length.” The district attorney’s office has not yet reviewed the evidence, but charges are most likely to be brought against the students if they spread video or photographic evidence on the internet.

What can be done to deter or prevent students from engaging in illicit sexual activity? How will these arrests shape the discussion around teenage sexuality and sex crimes?

Guests:

Dmitry Gorin, partner at the Van Nuys-based criminal defense firm Eisner Gorin, LLP, he formerly prosecuted juvenile sex cases and is an adjunct law professor at Pepperdine University School of Law and UCLA

Ginger Clark, associate professor of Clinical Education at USC’s Rossier School of Education; she’s worked with university officials on strengthening sexual assault policies on campus.

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