Oct 10, 2003  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.  | COMMENTS     

A 22-year-old lesbian said six men raped and beat her after pulling her into an alley near 14th and R Streets, NW, shortly after 2 a.m. on September 28. She said the men shouted anti-gay taunts as they took turns assaulting her.

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident happened while she was walking alone to her Logan Circle home from the Black Cat nightclub at 14th and T Streets.

D.C. police said they are investigating the incident, which they reported as a first-degree sex abuse case, a term used to describe a rape.

The woman said she lives with her girlfriend a few blocks from where the incident occurred. She said the assault began when one of the men asked her for a cigarette as she walked past the Central Mission Building at 14th and R Streets.

“They said, ‘Where’s your boyfriend?’ I told them to leave me alone. I said, ‘Here, take all of them,’ “ she said, referring to her pack of cigarettes.

When the men persisted in harassing her, she said she shouted that she was not interested in men. It was at that point, she said, that one of the men struck her on the head with a blunt object and the others dragged her into an alley next to the Central Mission Building. She said the men later placed a sheet of cardboard on the pavement, forced her to lie on it, and ripped off her clothes. She said they took turns raping and beating her.

Several of the men called her a “dyke” and a “lesbian” as they assaulted her, she said.

“They asked me if this was better than having sex with my girlfriend,” she said.

“Every time I screamed, they put a hand over my mouth,” she said. The woman said the men beat her when she struggled to break away from them.

She said the assailants apparently left her sometime after she lost consciousness. She said she regained consciousness nearly three hours later. Naked and bleeding, she said she managed to find some of her clothes and put them on. Her girlfriend called an ambulance after she staggered home, with blood dripping from her head.

She was taken to Howard University Hospital, where she was treated and released, she said. A counselor with the D.C. Rape Crisis Center accompanied her during a forensic examination at the hospital, where she said medical personnel confirmed she had been raped.

She and her girlfriend said they were concerned that police had not released an announcement about the incident to alert other possible victims.

Sgt. Joe Gentile, a police spokesperson, said a detective with the department’s sex offense branch was investigating the incident.

“This is an allegation under investigation,” Gentile said. “We don’t want to say anything until we know exactly what happened and what’s involved.”

Gentile said he could not comment on any details surrounding the incident, citing police rules for pending cases.

Sgt. Brett Parson, commander of the police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, said he has “full confidence” in Detective Ingrid Harkins, the lead investigator in the case. Parson said he is certain that Harkins and police officials would release information to the public about the case when they feel it is most beneficial to the investigation.

During the past year, unidentified attackers have assaulted gay men walking home from the Black Cat nightclub in at least two separate incidents. The men said the attackers made no attempt to rob them. Although the attackers did not make anti-gay remarks, the men said they believe the attackers may have targeted them because of their sexual orientation.

The woman who was sexually assaulted described her attackers as black males in their early 20s to late 30s.