UPDATE: Sixth person arrested in Cal. homecoming gang rape

Police arrested another teen Thursday, the sixth suspect jailed in connection with the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on a northern California high school campus.

Jose Carlos Montano, 18, was arrested on charges of felony rape, rape in concert with force, and penetration with a foreign object, said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan.

Montano was arrested Thursday evening in San Pablo, California, a small town about two miles from the city of Richmond, where the crime took place.

Montano, who was held in lieu of $1.3 million bail, is accused of taking part in what police said was a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus.

Police said as many as 10 people were involved in the rape in a dimly lit back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911.

The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but was released Wednesday.

Four other teenage suspects were arraigned Thursday on charges connected to the rape.

Cody Ray Smith, described by the court as older than 14, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape with a foreign object and rape by force.

Two other juveniles, Ari Abdallah Morales and Marcelles James Peter, appeared with Smith at the Contra Costa County Superior Court, but did not enter a plea. The court described Morales as younger than 16, and did not give an age for Peter.

All three juveniles, who wore bulletproof vests at the hearing, were charged as adults.

A fourth person, Manuel Ortega, 19, appeared separately without an attorney and did not enter a plea. He did not wear a protective vest.

Another person, Salvador Rodriguez, 21, was arrested Tuesday night, but he was not in court Thursday.

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A California high school student who police said was gang raped in a two-and-a-half-hour assault outside a homecoming dance remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday, two days after she was flown from the attack scene in critical condition.

As of late Monday, two suspects had been arrested in the case and a third was being questioned.

“There is one individual in custody who has made some spontaneous statements that have led me to believe that he is culpable for what happened,“ Richmond police Lt. Johan Simon said.

Nineteen-year-old Manuel Ortega, described as a former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said.

A 15-year-old was later arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual assault. A third teenager was being interviewed, according to Lt. Mark Gagan of the police department in Richmond, California.

“Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts,“ Gagan said.

Investigators said as many as 15 people, all males, stood around watching the assault, but did not call police or help the victim, a 15-year-old student at Richmond High School in suburban San Francisco.

“As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated,“ Gagan said.

Authorities had interviewed the victim, and the search for other attackers and bystanders who watched and did not report the rape was in “full-court press,“ according to Gagan.

“We have checked Facebook and YouTube to try to find any revealing evidence,“ he said. “We’re looking in particular to see if anyone posted any video of the incident.“

Several other individuals were detained at the scene but not arrested, Simon said.

The attack occurred on school grounds as the annual homecoming dance was under way inside the school Saturday night, authorities said.

The victim was found unconscious and “brutally assaulted” under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene “reminiscing about the incident,“ Gagan said.

“She ended up with those guys under her own will because she knew one of the boys who had gone to the high school before,“ Gagan said. “Right now, we’re looking at toxicology reports to determine her blood-alcohol content and to determine if she was drugged.“

According to authorities, the victim was flown to an area hospital in critical condition. She was in stable condition Monday, police said.

“This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it,“ Gagan said. “It was like a horror movie after looking at the evidence. I can’t believe not one person felt compelled to help her.“