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Details of the Horrific Gang Rape of 15 Year Old Girl in California

Aired October 31, 2009 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the unthinkable, the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school while inside a homecoming dance was under way. Five teenagers are being held ranging in age from 15 years old to 19. Prosecutors say they will all be charged as adults. Police say as many as 10 people may have been involved, and what makes matters even more outrageous, another 10 watched and did nothing to stop the 2-1/2 hour assault. It happened at Richmond High School in Richmond, California, about 20 miles outside of San Francisco.

Just take a look at this Google Earth right here. It's an industrial suburb of 100,000 residents where even police admit to battling crime in some areas for decades there. This hour we're looking into how this could possibly happen, both the assault and the apathy. How could there be silent witnesses? We have a panel of guests to discuss this this hour today.

Kami Baker, a junior at Richmond High School and a friend of the victim. Dr. Jeff Gardere, a psychologist and specialist in children's issues and parenting. Phil Harris, criminal justice professor at Temple University who has studied juveniles and group situations for almost three decades now, and Drew Carburry, a director at the National Crime Prevention Council and Charles Ramsey, a member of the school board that oversees Richmond High School. He's been a board member now for 16 years there. Good to see all of you.

Kami, I want to begin with you. Give me an idea, how is your friend doing? We know she's been released from the hospital this week. How is she doing?

KAMI BAKER, RAPE VICTIM'S FRIEND: I personally really don't know right now. I have been trying to get in contact with her, but her parents are being extremely private about everything, and I actually have flowers to give her but they won't give me the phone number. So I can't really say.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's understandable. I'm sure the family is distraught. They're afraid of any kind of contact with anyone, especially your friends. So tell me about what you and some of your other friends have been talking about since this incident occurred in terms of is there pervasive fear? Are you afraid to go to school, to, you know, walk the neighborhood streets? What are your classmates and friends saying? BAKER: I was actually discussing this last night. I had a friend spend the night and we were discussing we're not technically scared of the campus during school hours. We're more scared of being outside of the campus and at social activities at night knowing that they aren't providing adequate security for us.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever have this kind of fear or concern before this incident last week?

BAKER: It depends on which area in Richmond exactly. The area where I live is actually Richmond Heights, which is kind of the nicer area and there's not a lot of crime. So in my neighborhood I'm not scared to walk at night at all. I walk at 11:00 at night to the grocery store with my dad every night which is a block away. But in areas like north Richmond where there's a lot of gang activity, then yes, after 9:00, I don't like walking around.

WHITFIELD: So Kami, you and some of your fellow students even some teachers were at a forum this past Wednesday talking to school board members, school administrators expressing your concerns about security, about all that took place that terrible night, that homecoming dance. This is what one of the students said on Wednesday night about how she believes many girls are perceived by a lot of the boys at school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People look at us very different now. They look at the girls as easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Is that the case? Is that what you're feeling as well, that a lot of the boys in school are looking at the girls and thinking that they're easy or thinking that they are less than to be valued?

BAKER: I think it's everywhere though that girls are less - they're dehumanized. I mean I could walk down the streets of my school and get wolf whistled and then I'd come to San Francisco on the weekends with friends and still get wolf whistled, it's everywhere, it's not just my school.

WHITFIELD: And you feel that's a more harassing sort of way as opposed to being whistled at as being an innocent compliment. You feel hounded, so to speak, by that?

BAKER: Yes. I don't really think that it's innocent anywhere. I mean, you wouldn't wolf whistle as a joke unless you know the person, and if you don't know them, why would you wolf whistle in the first place unless you just wanted to do something with them?

WHITFIELD: Kami, we have been hearing from so many people by way of our blog and Facebook and people have expressed just outrage and are also wondering about, you know, the climate of the Richmond High School area, if there is anything that kind of preceded this, anything that built up to this horrible, heinous act.

Our Josh Levs is with us as well in the NEWSROOM. And Josh, what are people concerned about and what are they asking that perhaps Kami might be able to answer?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, you know, a lot of people may have a lot invested in this. They see it as a sign of our society, of where our nation stands, and there's also some questions about what goes on regionally. We have a screen that will show you where you can weigh in throughout this hour. The conversation goes on throughout the hour. (INAUDIBLE) CNN.com/josh or /fredricka. We're also up at Facebook and Twitter. Josh Levs CNN.

Kami, let me read you something. We have a screen here from Elizabeth. And it's something that she wrote us today. I want you to hear this and maybe you can respond if it has to do with the culture of your school. She says "One healthy action would be for the mature young men of the school to stand up and say, 'this is not the way we treat our ladies.' And for the mature members of the student body to stand up and say 'this is not how we treat each other.' Peer pressure can be a good thing when it is positive."

Is there any of that happening among the students at your school so far?

BAKER: Yes. There's a student at my school. He's a senior, and he was actually interviewed by a reporter for a newspaper I think, and he said I view females very highly in regard because I have a mom -

LEVS: Sure.

BAKER: And my mom is my hero and a lot of the guys are saying that this is wrong. Well, the ones that I hang out with, and there are a few saying, yes, she asked for it, which no one asked for this.

LEVS: Kami, I think what Elizabeth is getting at is maybe some organized thing, maybe some organized event for students to stand up and say this is who we are, for students to take a stand in the wake of what's been alleged, in the wake of what's been reported here, some kind of organized event where guys and the student body in general will do that. Do you know of anything, any discussions about something like that to really take a stand and make a statement as a student body?

BAKER: Yes, Tuesday after school we have a vigil which will include performances and we'll receive donations to put in a bank account for the victim, and myself is performing along with my friends who are doing poems and one of the seniors, he's in Youths Together, and Youths Together is doing a big statement.

And all the men will like go wear wrist bands at my school are actually wearing blue wrist bands to show that we support the victim entirely and so accept donations. And a lot of the men are actually writing speeches. I have read some of them, and they're amazing.

LEVS: I know a lot of people will care a lot about that, Fred. WHITFIELD: Kami, it sounds like this is an event to help empower so many people at your school, especially at a time when many felt like there were too many people who sat silently and simply didn't say enough. We still are unclear whether some of those people who have been arrested were students of the school, whether they were people who were from the neighborhood, et cetera.

Well, Kami, we also know that you were at that public meeting with those school district officials on Wednesday night, and this is something that you said about security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER: At the dance there are four officers, none of them patrolling the area. I looked outside of the gym and I saw 12 to 15 guys sitting there with no IDs. The officers, not only did they not check the IDs of those students or men sitting outside of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no job checking either. The assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men and did nothing about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So is that part of the problem? Is the security or lack thereof part of the problem or is something else to blame?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're focusing on "Silent Witnesses." It is hard to imagine, painful in fact, to imagine how so many people could sit idly by and watch the assault, the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl allegedly by 10 young men, and apparently at least 10 young men were actually watching it. Never called for help. Never called 911. It was the subject of a very heated meeting this week as school students as well as teachers spoke out to school board members. Just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENITO JAIME, RICHMOND HIGH SENIOR: If you want to support us, the students, we demand cameras, two weeks, lights within one month, fences, more security for the students. We don't want the to criminalize our youth but to work with our youth.

JESSICA PRICE, RICHMOND HIGH TEACHER: That back lit area, it did not surprise me that something horrific happened there. Something horrific has happened there before. We know that's a huge area where we've had already gang violence and brutalities in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So among the school board members who was there who listened to that testimony from students as well as teachers, Charles Ramsey, a school board member for 16, is that right? 16 years now.

CHARLES RAMSEY, WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Yes, 16 years. WHITFIELD: And you're also serving on the Safety and Facilities Committee. Good to see you. So what did you say to these students and teachers who expressed that they think part of the blame was a lack of security?

RAMSEY: Well, I understand and share their feelings. I can tell you that I was just sickened by what I learned, and I learned early on Sunday morning what had happened, and my thoughts and prayers along with the rest of our school board members go out to the family at this very difficult time, and I want to thank Kami for her comments.

We really want to listen as school board members and as trustees and as a 16-year board member I know fully how this all evolved and how all of this took place.

WHITFIELD: You said you do?

RAMSEY: Well, not the incident, how it happened, but I can tell you the indicators about how it happened, how it got there.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

RAMSEY: We identified the issue about nine months ago, and we are addressing the problem. Unfortunately, it didn't happen soon enough to avert this problem, and -

WHITFIELD: When you say identify the issue, you're talking about identify the issue of this being a dark -

RAMSEY: Dark area. Thank you for allowing me to clarify that.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RAMSEY: The district has taken steps, and are taking steps. As a matter of fact, they're going to start on the project next week, and this wasn't just as a result of what happened last Saturday night at the homecoming dance with the rape. We had been moving this process forward, and I want to thank the state legislature for even accelerating it even faster.

We found out this week that they've moved the drawings up so we can get the fencing part out even sooner, so we're very hopeful around that.

WHITFIELD: So that is ongoing but even you said reportedly on cnn.com that the school district bears responsibility.

RAMSEY: Yes. I mean, I think we do.

WHITFIELD: And the police weren't watching the area as they should have. So how do you offer assurances to parents, to young people who attend that school that they are safe under all circumstances when they're invited to be at Richmond High School?

RAMSEY: Well, we've redoubled our effort. Today there's a committee forum going on. There's been an outpouring of interest, and there's been a lot of people engaged and involved in dealing with the issue and making sure that new steps are taken so that this tragedy will never be repeated again, and so they're meeting, we're bringing in intervention groups, we're having conversations, putting the lighting in.

We've created a plan to make sure that our site supervisors do surveillance in that area. And we're just doing everything rapidly so that it can all happen and take place and make sure that students like Kami are safe.

WHITFIELD: Do you know whether among those that were arrested, the five arrested and facing charges now, are they students at your school?

RAMSEY: Well, there was one who was a student at the school. The other four students are not students at the school. Some are former students, some had been at continuation schools. Some had dropped out. I have seen the records of the students who have been identified, the five that were there, out of the students, the one 15- year-old was a current student. One of the students was at Gompers, another student was at another continuation school (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: Knowing that, a little bit more about the young people involved here, does it make you as a school administrator kind of re-think, perhaps when you discuss with other school administrators - to discuss, you know, security is one thing.

But now we're talking about, I guess, the cause, the makeup, the thinking of some of these young people ages 15 and 19, at least those are the ones being charged as to what provokes anyone in that age group - what provokes these young people to think that this activity is OK? And equally that it's OK to watch a terrible thing happen?

RAMSEY: Well, it's not OK and that's why we've worked hard. I can tell you -

WHITFIELD: I guess what I'm asking is how do you address that? How do you try to identify -

RAMSEY: Well, we address it in multiple ways, on multiple levels. First, as you said, the security, getting the place physically safe. Second, though it has to be in the classroom and making sure that we're having curriculum that really addresses how women are being addressed and treated.

The language that's being used to make sure that we show young people they have to value each other and value young women and not make these kind of decisions.

WHITFIELD: And how do you do that? How will you try to reach out to these young people -

RAMSEY: Well, we are having intervention right now, letting community nonprofit groups come in and talk to young people about how not to get involved with gangs, that drug and alcohol use is not acceptable. In trying to put them into positive pathways by having mentors and role models.

I mean there was a movie "Coach Carter" that talked about these incidents and things that are going on and we need to make sure - my father was the dean of the law school at Howard University for seven years, and he showed me good values, and I know that we can do that here in our own community. I grew up in Richmond. I'm a product. I am now an attorney and have a family, two daughters myself, one in high school, and so I know that we can get this issue turned around and addressed.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps that's what makes you a little bit keener than some other people to identify. There may be voids in some of these young people's lives that don't allow them to live responsibly as your parents helped to raise you.

RAMSEY: That's right. And so I want to make sure that we do everything in our power to stay present. We have to have more parental involvement, more active engaged opportunities for young people. But let's not (INAUDIBLE) we have a victim here, and we have to address and deal with the fact that we have to make sure that these young students understand there's consequences for this behavior.

And that I acknowledge and recognize that as a school - elected school official, I'm accountable and I should be held accountable for not doing everything that I should have done to make sure that whole facility was safe for all those students.

WHITFIELD: Charles Ramsey, thanks so much, school board member there of Richmond School district. Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. We know you have a lot ahead of you especially as you try to reach out to the victim and the victim's family.

RAMSEY: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: To help her recover and cope from this horrible act. So what exactly compels a person to see something wrong and somehow find that it's normal or at least OK enough that they don't do something about it like call 911. We're going to talk about the bystander effect or if there's something else, something much deeper, a pathological effect perhaps?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We'll get back to our focus of "Silent Witnesses" in a moment but first a look at the top stories. A Republican candidate has dropped out of next week's special congressional election in upstate New York. Dede Sozzafava was too moderate for many Republicans apparently. They're backing conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman against Democrat Bill Owens.

And a bus carrying the Moorehouse College Marching Band to a football game wrecked today on interstate 75 near Atlanta. Police say another vehicle may have cut it off. At least four people were hurt. None of the injuries are said to be life threatening thankfully. And Philadelphia transit workers could go on strike tonight just as game three of the World Series is getting under way. The latest strike deadline is less than two hours away, but last-minute negotiations continue.

We're getting a lot of you to respond to the topic this hour on "Silent Witnesses," why no one came forward and tried to stop a gang rape in Richmond, California. So should the bystanders be charged? That's a question we're actually asking on my blog. Cast your vote at cnn.com/fredricka.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. "Silent Witnesses," we're talking this hour about the gang rape of that 15-year-old girl at Richmond High School in California, and why so many people watched as it took place while inside the high school, the homecoming dance was taking place, and why is it as many as 10 gang raped and possibly as many as 10 watched and never called 911, never called for help? So we're trying to get into exactly what provoked this kind of complacency.

This is how one psychologist put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE GOLLANDS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think there's a few things going on. The first one is what you were asking about, which is this idea of group think, and that's what really happens in a group mob situation like this where everybody was looking to the other like, oh, is this - I guess we're doing this, this is OK.

No one is saying anything, and had one person stood up, had one person jumped in or said this isn't OK, it would have shifted the dynamic of that group very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, let's ask our panelists if they agree with that, if it was just one person to step forward, could that have made a difference? Clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere is in New York. Phil Harris, a criminal justice professor at Temple University is also with us and Drew Carburry, a director at the National Crime Prevention Council. Good to see all of you.

Let me begin with you, Dr. Gardere. Is it that simple? Is it the result of group thinking?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think a lot of our young people just don't know how to manifest or if not express some of the anger and the rage that they have so when they get into this group situation, yes, the conscience is lost and they looked to the next person to try to set some sort of boundary there.

But I think it takes more than one person to change that whole dynamic around. There are a couple of things going on here. For one, we know there may have been a fear factor because it was some sort of a gang, either formal or informal. Someone may have been afraid of being hurt. A lot of times we know that our young people are afraid to snitch or that they're afraid to step forward and take responsibility for the actions of others.

And all of those things need to be in some ways brought to light. And we're just not doing that. So, yes, I agree, one person could have changed the dynamic, but it certainly takes more than one person to change the whole culture as to what's going on with young people and violence and sexual violence.

WHITFIELD: Well, Phil, when you hear the word fear, you think this poor girl, that's the one who was fearful. A lot of folks have a hard time understanding why should I think that these guy who may have been involved or just simply were onlookers, they, too, were provoked by fear. Phil?

PHIL HARRIS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR: Oh, I'm sorry. I think that it's really much more self-focused than that. I don't think this was a situation where empathy entered into the picture. This was such a shocking and horrifying situation that fear of being ostracized by the group was probably a more powerful concern of those who were participating.

I doubt very much that one person could have stepped up and stopped this thing from happening. It sounds to me like it really took off and very rapidly became something so extreme that it was shocking even to those who may have felt some rage being expressed through the perpetrators. But let's not forget, too, there's an audience effect going on here.

We have a group of people who are acting as an audience, and that audience in a sense supports the perpetrators of this event. Even if they're not actively cheering it on, just their presence alone encourages the perpetrators -

WHITFIELD: And they're offering some acceptance, that it's OK.

HARRIS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Drew, you know, you are study the criminal mind all the time, you're dealing with it all the time. Is this how you see something like this happen, whether it is that bystander effect or is it something else?

DREW CARBERRY, NAT'L CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Well, I think we're looking at an intersection. This case is an intersection of a number of things. One that's been mentioned earlier was the regard for women in our culture. I'm not talking about my mom. I'm not talking about my sister, I'm talking about women.

The other thing is the adolescent mind. The adolescent at this time is trying to develop a world view. And then the third thing that compounds this is the proliferation of violent and victimizing images that are available at any moment at the click of a button or the click of a mouse. If I go to YouTube or another video site, I can find hundreds or more videos of mayhem, victimization, and some of it seemingly for sport. So I wonder about this kind of mindset, and I wonder whether young people can distinguish reality from what I see on YouTube, and I think that's in play here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's find out, Josh, you're hearing from people by way of our blog and Facebook. Do they issue the same kind of concern? Are they talking about anything that's kind of in concert with these three experts?

LEVS: They are. Actually, they're talking about all the issues you all were just touching on right there. Let me do this - I'm going to remind everyone. You can reach us throughout the show. There's a conversation going on on-line during this show and after at our blog, CNN.com/josh or /fredricka. Also Facebook and Twitter.

I want to go to this comment next that we got from Cathy because this will kind of crack open the door to something we will talk about more coming up in this hour. Let me just talk this and Drew, I want to see if you can respond to what Cathy said. She says "why don't our legislators pass laws to punish those who witness crimes and do nothing to stop them." Drew, is legislation part of the answer here?

CARBERRY: Well, I know that some persons in our community and our civilization are compelled to report crimes when children are abused or in danger, and it may be a time to examine what are those roles or expand those categories of who must report this kind of abuse, when you think about teachers, principals, social workers, must report this kind of abuse. Perhaps there's a way to legislate or to certainly explore the idea that we need to expand those categories of who must report.

LEVS: That's what we're hearing from people. A lot of people would support that. We'll talk about that more throughout the hour.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we're going to continue this conversation right after this short break. I heard a few interesting things here. We're talking about group behavior, retaliation, fear, even a disdain for women. Let's elaborate a little bit further with our experts on that right after this break.

Also we're going to have a quick look at the top stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're talking about Silent Witnesses. It's what happened when a gang of mostly young men, we understand, actually gang raped a 15-year-old girl at Richmond High School in Richmond, California. Now, we have an incredible panel of guests to try to make sense of all this. No one really can make sense of why this happened, but we're trying to understand how do you prevent something like this from happening again.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere is back with us. Phil Harris, a criminal justice professor at Temple University. And Drew Carberry with the National Council on Crime Prevention. Of course, Josh Levs also going through a number of your e-mailed questions and comments.

I want to follow up on these pretty remarkable points you all made before the break. Everything from disdain for women, fear, retaliation, this kind of group behavior; you put all this together and you wonder, my goodness, where are we going next? How do we reach our young people if they're victim to any of these things?

And Drew, you talked about this disdain for women, because you have to wonder if that really is at the root of this. You have a group of young men assaulting this one young girl. Why do you suppose something like this happens? What are the influences? What can make a young guy think this is OK? I have a mother. I've got a sister. How is this OK?

CARBERRY: Once again, not sure of the answer, but I think when you think about something as prolific as Internet porn, which really distorts what a human sexual relationship is about -- if you think of a video game -- I just heard an ad for a video game called "Left For Dead." That kind of culture and that kind of media has to distort what a young person is going through, determining what's right, what is real, what can I just -- what do have to concern myself with?

I thought about this -- I heard one report where this bystander effect was some folks were coming and going and wandering in and out, and being recruited to come see this. I think of it in terms of how I might forward an e-mail. I might say something like, you got to see this, and I press send. And I wonder if that's not the same kind of mindset that's in place when that happens.

WHITFIELD: So, doctor -- go ahead.

GARDERE: Yes, I have to agree with my colleague on this. And I see it all the time working with young people in my practice, even my own children, who I think, to some extent, have an Internet addiction, though we have not been able to diagnose that yet officially. There are real issue where they're living in a virtual society, their own society where the rules are completely different from us as adults, where there is this issue of inappropriate sexuality, undeveloped sexuality, a lot of violence.

And there's a tolerance effect. A lot of these kids have seen so many things through CG, through the virtual reality, through fantasy, that when it comes to real life, their tolerance level is so high that they now must see something absolutely much more horrific in real life for them to realize that this is the reality. Now we're seeing the results of all of this.

WHITFIELD: So, Phil, that means we, as adults -- we bear a huge responsibility here. Either we are manufacturing some of these products that the doctor is talking about, or perhaps we're turning a blind eye to the kind of behavior that's coming from these images that a lot of these young people are exposed to. Do I have that right?

HARRIS: I'd like to, for a moment, downplay the media effect and talk about whether or not -- what these kids are experiencing in their personal lives. In the juvenile justice system, we see very high proportions of kids coming in who have themselves been abused in a variety of ways, and who have experienced families where there's a lot of spousal abuse, where the models of male and female relationships are very poor, where women are being downgraded in the home and outside the home.

This is their real lives. It's not the media, fictional life. And so the media side feeds into that, certainly, but I pay more attention to what's going on in these kids' real lives, and worry about why so many of them are experiencing depression, experiencing high -- very high rates of anxiety disorders, and why we see abuse occurring. A lot of girls report abusive partners when they're dating.

WHITFIELD: So, Josh, you're going through a lot of comments and questions. I wonder if people are asking the question or making the comment, you know, whether some of these traits are not being identified, whether a lot of these young people are walking around with all of these experiences that these experts are talking about, and people are just not paying attention.

LEVS: Yes. Let me show you something we got on Facebook. You can help me decide whom we should have respond to it. I find it very interesting. By the way he was talking about -- from Steven, "a big part of the problem is that the, quote, valueless generation of kids a few years ago have now become the parents of today. We have a generation of parents that don't know any better."

I can tell you, as a parent of today -- and there are other parents in this room of today -- one could also look at today and say, there are great things going on, much better than previous generations.

WHITFIELD: That's a great point. I wonder, doctor, if you can jump on that.

GARDERE: I really do feel that, as parents, it's not the issue that we don't have the values. It's just that I think we don't know how to express our values to our children. And Phil is absolutely correct that if we don't get involved in looking at what the emotional issues are of our kids, if we are modeling violent behaviors or addressing our wives or daughters in a certain way, where there's not the respect that we do have kids who are at risk for not just the video games, not just the media, but what we're not doing or what we are doing in a negative way as adults.

LEVS: You had a bunch of ifs in there. Is that what's happening today? Is there a valueless generation? Is this a huge problem? If there are large numbers of parents out there that, for societal reason, their own reasons, are not instilling these values. Drop the ifs. Is that what's happening?

GARDERE: Josh, I think one of the things that's going on is that there is the perfect storm for some of these kids, where they don't have the values themselves; they don't have the values from the parents; they do have these emotional issues; and, therefore, they do become at risk for gang behaviors, for the group gang mentality, and certainly for some of the tolerance levels being raised so high, from what they are involved in every day on the Internet.

WHITFIELD: Quickly, Josh, perhaps you have another e-mail which would be a good jumping point for one of our other panelists.

LEVS: I do have one. Can we go to the screen from Glenn? A lot of people are bringing up this kind of thing, Fred. I'll just tell you what Glenn said. He's talking about regions of the country. A lot of people are going to this. "Born in the south, I would never move back to California. We would be shocked here in the south because a crime like rape would not have gone unreported. In California, I'm neither shocked nor surprised."

I don't want to let a strange, anonymous first name voice slam California. But this is something good for us to look at in the rest of the hour here. Is that happening?

WHITFIELD: Drew, is it a geographical thing?

CARBERRY: No, I don't think it is a geographical thing. This event is an aberration, but it might be an indicator of something that's building or growing or that we have to address. We can find crimes wherever you want to look. I don't want to label California as the crime center of the states.

WHITFIELD: Got you. Hold that thought right there. We're going to take a short break. We're going to have some top stories, and, of course, taking all this great information we just got from all of you. Where do we go from here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We've been asking the questions to help provoke this conversation about Silent Witnesses. Now where do we go from here? We've heard some incredible information from our guests we've had with us. Clinical psychology Dr. Jeff Gardere. We've also had, from Temple University, Phil Harris, as well as Drew Carberry, with the National Crime Prevention Council. And, of course, our Josh Levs has been fielding so many of your e-mails and questions.

Taking all this information now about what's at the root of this kind of complacency, this apathy that we saw just a few days ago. Where do we go from here now, doctor?

GARDERE: Well, I think there are a couple things we need to do. Number one, parents need to be involved. They need to model behaviors. Secondly, there has to be more school programs looking at bullying and sexuality and sexual harassment. We need mental health programs that can identify kids who are at risk, kids who are violent, who come from violent backgrounds. We have to look at community policing so we can switch around this whole mindset about snitching is a bad thing, especially in not trusting the police and not trusting parents.

And, finally, you have something called CNN Heroes. We need to have that in our own homes, where we can actually have parents teach our kids that you can't be just a bystander. You have to be involved. You've got to do the right thing. You have to be a hero each and every day.

WHITFIELD: Phil Harris, where do we go from here?

HARRIS: Well, I thought Tammy pointed out one of the most critical things, and that's that the adults weren't doing their job. We had security people there. We had a vice principal who observed them, not doing their job, and didn't respond. Sure, we can put blame on the bystanders and say they shouldn't have been silent. But again, we're talking about adolescents who are in turmoil themselves. And I'm not sure intervening with them specifically would help.

There is -- I agree with the doctor about the effort of developing more -- a greater sense of community, and dealing with values within the educational setting. We often are afraid to deal with values in an educational setting, but we really need to.

WHITFIELD: Drew Carberry -- sorry, do you have another thought?

HARRIS: Adults have a responsibility to monitor what's going on in the lives of kids, and to intervene when it's appropriate, and to respond with sanctions. I'm talking about minor sanctions, too, when it's appropriate.

WHITFIELD: OK. Drew Carberry, where do we go from here?

CARBERRY: Well, I think this case presents an opportunity for us. It's a costly and horrible opportunity, when you consider the health of this woman and the lengthy incarcerations these men are facing. But it's an opportunity to have a lot of conversations, conversations with our co-workers, with our classmates, with our families, and maybe even with ourselves.

What would I do? What should I do in that kind of situation? We all have a moral compass. And we have to answer the question, where does it point me?

WHITFIELD: Josh, our viewers, are they commenting on that moral compass or where we go from here?

LEVS: They are. We'll play right out of that. First of all, we have a screen showing everyone where you can join the conversation. Lots of people weighing in every possible way. You have CNN.com/Josh or /Fredricka. I'm also Facebook and Twitter. It's /JoshLevsCNN.

Let me go to this screen we have here. I think it's an interesting idea. This comes to us from Katherine. We'll get one of our panelists to respond to this. She is suggesting "if the witnesses who were allegedly standing there while this happened can't be charged," she says, "publish their picture for all to see. Shame on them." Is that a possibility, Drew?

CARBERRY: I'm sort of reluctant to endorse that. I read a report that the men who were arraigned wore bullet proof vests to the arraignment. That was shocking and scary to me on a couple levels.

WHITFIELD: OK. We're going to take a short break. We're also -- I'm sorry, a quick thought on that, Phil? Was that you?

GARDERE: No, go ahead.

WHITFIELD: OK. We're going to take a short break because we're going to bring back Charles Ramsey, who is one of the school board members with Richmond, California, that school district, as well as a student, Kami Baker. We're going to get some final thoughts from them if they feel like, from all they've heard from the experts today -- if they feel they have some real good concrete answers about what's next.

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WHITFIELD: We have been talking about Silent Witnesses, on the heels of that gang rape of a 15-year-old girl at Richmond High School, while inside the school, a homecoming dance taking place. We've brought back Kami Baker. She's a junior at Richmond High, as well as Charles Ramsey, a school board member for 16 years.

We have had an incredible conversation this past hour about where we go from here. How this can even happen? What's at the root of all of this? Did either one of you hear any real solutions here that may help you going forward. Kami, how about you? Or even comfort you as you go back to school?

BAKER: I heard them talking about programs to help the youth with problems that are at set at home -- mental health. But --

WHITFIELD: Are those feasible?

BAKER: They are feasible. I mean, we have a period called SSR and all we do is read. So I think certain students who do have those issues should be able to go to a different classroom for that, and have sort of a challenge day during SSR instead.

WHITFIELD: Are you afraid to go back to school? Do you have any reservations or concern, given what took place a week ago?

BAKER: I really don't have any fear going back to the school. I'm there to graduate and get my education, no matter which way you look at it. If I have to get a ride to school every morning because my parents are concerned, that's fine by me. I really don't have any problem sitting in class every day and getting an education.

WHITFIELD: Mr. Ramsey, that's probably pretty comforting for you to hear, that she's a friend of the victim, and she says she will still be going to school. But she did mention her parents. How do you comfort the parents? Did you hear anything in this hour that gives you any new ideas about this day forward For your school district?

RAMSEY: This was an excellent panel discussion. I learned a lot from listening to the speakers. And we will take this information and utilize it in our school. I would hope and encourage that we could have this conversation a year from now, and really look at what we have done to implement the suggestions that have been brought forward today.

I can tell you that our board has heard and listened and will act upon these suggestions, and make sure that we do everything so that all of you will be proud, that every child will be safe in that school. We have listened. We have learned. And we will execute so that we make sure that everything that has come out of this nationwide discussion and debate will ensure that we take the next steps forward.

So, Fredricka, I really would value us looking at this 12 months from now and saying, did West Contra Costa High learn something new from this? Did the school board take these suggestions and really value them and show good faith?

WHITFIELD: What do you do? You remind us in this hour that there is the victim. There is the 15-year-old girl, and her family members who now have to deal with this and try to cope. So what can you, as a school district, do to help her, you know, try to heal?

RAMSEY: We have set up programs right now. We have had an outpouring of support. There is a fund to help her. We have offered services to ensure that the family knows that we are here. We even had a letter that the family read today at the community forum. We are in contact and we are here to make sure that they know we value them and respect them.

WHITFIELD: What do they say?

RAMSEY: It said to move forward that all of us need to work together and let's turn our anger into positive action. Let's try to learn something from this. Let's take something from this. I wish I could have had that statement to read here. It was so uplifting to see that they want all of us to do better. But all of us want to do it together.

WHITFIELD: Mr. Ramsey and Kami, you seem a little frustrated by what you were hearing. Why is that?

RAMSEY: I wasn't frustrated.

BAKER: Because a year ago -- or something has happened in that area before. And yet, the implications were not taken then. I don't expect them to be taken at all now. You say you learned, but did you learn the last time? Did you learn previously? We weren't safe when -- our safety was breached. And it will be breached again, unless you take affirmative action. It took blood to be shed for affirmative action to take place?

WHITFIELD: How do you respond to her? RAMSEY: I agree. I think Kami is brining good points. We have to show that the community and country can have confidence in us. So I am not sitting here not saying we have failed. We have not done what we should have done. And I'm telling everyone, moving forward, that we are going to have to take steps to make sure that we get it done. And we will do what we need to do to make sure that the steps that weren't taken in the past are taken in the future.

WHITFIELD: Charles Ramsey, thanks so much, with the Richmond School District. We are going to follow up with you, and Kami Baker as well. All the best to your friend. I know you've had a hard time being able to contact her, the victim of this horrific crime.

Also, thanks to Dr. Jeff Gardere, who was with us, a clinical psychologists, Phil Harris of Temple University, and Drew Carberry of the National Crime Prevention Council, as well as our Josh Levs, as well, fielding so many of your e-mails.

Thanks for your participation at home by way of our blog and Facebook as well. Thanks so much.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the NEWSROOM. Don Lemon joins you right after this.

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