Natchez High parents worried after teens charged with rape
Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 31, 2003
NATCHEZ &045; As the parent of a graduating senior and an incoming ninth-grader, Bishop James E. Calhoun was disturbed by reports of the alleged kidnapping and rape of a Natchez High student.
And as an involved parent, he plans to make his concerns known as soon as possible.
&uot;I’m going up (to the school) Monday to ask if they plan to make any more changes with regards to security,&uot; Calhoun said.
Three Natchez High students were arrested Thursday and charged with kidnapping and rape in the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl earlier that day.
Derrick Montrell Carter, 17, of 1170 Martin Luther King Jr.; Tre Michael Hebert, 17, of 7 Cottage Farm Road; and Lorenzo Jermaine Green, 18, of 17-B Ram Circle were all charged as adults.
Authorities said the teens kidnapped the girl near the school gym’s dressing area during lunch after displaying a gun. They then allegedly drove her to the LaGrange subdivision and raped her before driving her back to school. The girl was taken to Natchez Regional for examination and released.
As of Saturday afternoon, Calhoun had mulled over many changes he would like to see in school security as a result of the incident.
Among those would be more security cameras &045; &uot;especially in dead zones where they don’t have cameras now,&uot; Calhoun said &045; and additional security guards.
&uot;I’ve even thought about going up there next week to walk around the campus myself,&uot; he said.
The school has 13 security cameras, two police and two security officers.
There is not camera trained on the gym’s back door, which the victim said was her alleged attackers’ exit point.
Calhoun is not Natchez High’s only concerned parent.
&uot;I have two girls at the high school &045; 15 and 14 years old, as a matter of fact,&uot; Cynthia Lyles said. &uot;I think they need to monitor the school more.&uot;
But the sheer number of students at the campus makes monitoring their activities difficult, Lyles acknowledged.
&uot;Those are too many kids to have at one high school,&uot; Lyles said.
Even though she has no girls at the high school, Sandra Ellis said the incident still concerns her greatly.
&uot;After all, things happen to boys also,&uot; Ellis said. &uot;This is serious.&uot;