By CHRIS JACKETT
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Charges have been filed against three teenage boys following an accusation of sexual assault at a local hotel.
Detroit resident and Melvindale High School student athlete Trevon Hampton, 17, was arraigned Monday for charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct – a 15-year felony – with a drunken 14-year-old Melvindale High freshman girl at a homecoming dance afterparty at Comfort Inn & Suites, 17600 Dix Road.
A plea of innocent was entered on Hampton’s behalf before 24th District Judge John Courtright.
Hampton, who was a member of the school’s football and basketball teams, was held with a $20,000 cash bond under the condition of no contact with minors or the victim leading up to a preliminary examination of the evidence against him at 9 a.m. Oct. 25 in 24th District Court in Allen Park.
“If bond is posted, the defendant will be subject to tether/ house arrest,” said Maria Miller, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman.
Two 16-year-old boys, from Detroit and Southfield, also were charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct. The sentence, if any, is to be determined in Juvenile Court.
The pair had a pretrial hearing before Juvenile Court Judge Lynn Pierce on Friday at the Lincoln Hall of Justice in Detroit. The hearing was adjourned until 9 a.m. Nov. 11 so that more evidence could be collected. Miller said the court also scheduled a motion date for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in order to keep the case moving forward. Both juveniles posted $25,000 surety bonds.
A statement from the prosecutor’s office also said, “The respondents are to have no direct, indirect, electronic (e-mail, Facebook, cell phone, text), or third-party contact with the complainant and her family, the co-respondent and adult defendant and their families, or the witnesses and their families.”
A 10 p.m. curfew was imposed by the court, and the two 16-year-olds can leave home only with parental supervision.
Charges against a fourth suspect, an 18-year-old Southfield man, have not been filed and are pending results of a DNA test taken from the girl. Melvindale Detective Cpl. David Taft said the DNA results could take months to come back from the lab.
The young girl accuses the four boys of raping her in a bedroom at the afterparty when she was too drunk to resist. At least six other teens reportedly walked in on the nonconsensual act, but didn’t stop it. The victim, all of the suspects and most of the witnesses were black, so race is not believed to have been a factor.
The girl said students were drinking, and that she had done so and passed out. The police report states that “she woke up sore and was told she had been raped by” the suspects.
She said several rooms had been rented by parents, but the incident took place in room 317. Witnesses included a 17-year-old Melvindale boy and 17-year-old Dearborn girl who she arrived with.
Taft said warrants are pending for two mothers who rented the hotel room. Additionally, police discovered that three people, ages 17 to 20, purchased alcohol for the party. Taft said Friday that police also have learned where the alcohol was purchased, but he declined to name the business.
(Contact Chris Jackett at [email protected])