On October 24, 2009, in Richmond, a city on the northeast side of the San Francisco Bay in California, U.S., a female student of Richmond High School was gang raped repeatedly by a group of young males in a courtyard on the school campus while a homecoming dance was being held in the gymnasium.

[7] On Saturday, October 24, 2009, at about 9:30 p.m. (UTC-7), at the conclusion of the homecoming dance, a classmate invited the victim to join a group of males ranging in ages from 15 to late 40s, who were drinking alcohol in a dark courtyard on campus.

When she refused, she was placed on a nearby concrete bench and continuously beaten and raped for 21⁄2 hours, at times with a 'foreign object'.

Two different bystanders described the assault: They were kicking her in her head and they were beating her up, robbing her and ripping her clothes off; it's something you can't get out your mind.

[15] This initial suspect has since claimed that he was merely a witness present at the scene, and that his intent was to help the victim including offering her his shirt.

Humans who act in such a manner are put away for the rest of their lives.The attack became the most popular blog topic of the week of October 26–30, as bloggers expressed their outrage over the rape.

[24] A website was created in order to support the victim and discuss ways to prevent sexual assault on women.

The victim's parents made their first public statement on November 1:Please do not respond to this tragic event by promoting hatred or by causing more pain.

"[26] 200 people marched from Richmond High School to a nearby park and held a rally on November 7 to show support for the victim.

[28] In response to the events, California State Senator Leland Yee suggested legislation to broaden the criteria when failure to report a crime constitutes a criminal offense.

Under Yee's proposal, bystanders to crimes against minors could be charged with a misdemeanor criminal offense for failure to immediately report the incident to the police.

[29] The 18-year-old woman who was the only person to call 911 and make police aware of the assault in progress was honored by the Richmond City Council on November 17.

[31] On November 15, 2010, a preliminary hearing began in Contra Costa County, during which twenty witnesses appeared before the court.

[36] Ortega was described by authorities as an initiator in the rape, with witnesses alleging he ripped off the girl's clothes, punched and kicked her in the head, sexually assaulted her and encouraged others to do the same.

"[39] The prosecutor said in his opening statement that head trauma and her 0.35 percent blood alcohol level interfered with her memory of the events, saying, "They were pouring booze in her and on her, and that's after she was drinking it on her own.