ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A 25-year-old St. Paul man was found guilty Friday on four separate counts related to his role in the gang rape of a teenage girl in November of 2011.
Mang Yang was found guilty in Ramsey County District Court of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, conspiracy to commit criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, kidnapping and crime for benefit of a gang. The charges stem from his participation in a gang rape on Nov. 17, 2011.
Yang, along with eight other member of the True Blood 22 gang, conspired to intoxicate a 14-year-old girl at a house party at an abandoned home on the 200 block of White Bear Avenue North. When the girl attempted to leave the party, she was pulled from a vehicle and carried into a bedroom in the house.
Investigators say the gang rape only ended when a lookout, who was stationed in the kitchen, told the attackers that police had been called.
Four juvenile members of the gang held her down as Yang and four other older members took turns raping her. Those four adult men, who range in age from 18 to 37, were also charged alongside Yang: Vang Tou Ger Vue, 19, Kong Meng Vang, 37, Michell Teng Vang, 23, and Vanchai Xiong, 18.
Ramsey County prosecutors also filed charges against four juvenile males and intend to try them as adults. They are identified as Shaileng Shong Lor, 17, Jim Her, 17, Xou Yang, 16 and a fourth juvenile who is only 15. His name is not being released.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi commended the victim and her family for their bravery.
“This community will hold those who perpetrate acts of sexual violence accountable for their crimes and we stand and support victims of sexual assault,” Choi said. “I am moved by the courage of this young girl and her family to come forward, which was not an easy thing to do for a number of reasons that we as a community need to address in the future.”
Sentencing for Yang is set for February 27 at 9 a.m., where he faces a guideline sentence of 24 years in prison.
