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.
