Rape Of High School Boys Essay

Tom Spring from Research News reported “about 10,000 people in the United States may be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes each year” (1). A large scandal occurred in 1989 where 5 innocent young men were accused of raping Trisha Meili who was jogging in Central Park. On the night of April 19, 1989, a large group of 25 or more African American teenagers stormed Central Park, New York, looking to create havoc and chaos. The boys all committed many crimes that night. Only five teenagers were arrested once the police were informed about the chaotic presence the boys were creating. The five teenagers were Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Jr. and Kharey Wise. These five boys were blamed for a female jogger that was raped around the same time the boys were in the park even though they had nothing to do with it. The four main factors that contributed to the 5 boys’ incarceration started with being near the crime at the time it happened, the pressure from the police once they were arrested, the public testimonies they gave on camera to tell the world …show more content…
The amount of pressure the police put on the five boys after they were arrested was completely inhumane and inappropriate. The boys were interrogated constantly for around sixteen to thirty hours. They were not given any fluids or any kind of food during that period of time. They were also not allowed to communicate with their family and friends. Without these two very important things, the boys were easily broken into pieces and they felt like they were meaningless. The parents of the boys were so overwhelmed by the whole situation, they did not even call an attorney. The main reason the police treated the boys the way they did was because the police wanted to break the suspect by wearing them down so the boys would find a way