Teen sex-competition scandals across the U.S.
08/20/2015 8:00 am PDT
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The St. Paul's School trial in progress, in which a 19-year-old male student is accused of raping a 15-year-old female student to allegedly score points in a competitive tradition at the prep school, brings to mind other historic sex scandals related to high school students across the country.
FANTASY SLUT LEAGUE
The principal of Piedmont High School sent a letter to parents in 2012 informing them of a disturbing activity allegedly undertaken by varsity athletes known as a "Fantasy Slut League" by its student participants.
The athletes allegedly modeled the undertaking after so-called fantasy leagues in major league sports, in which participants hold "drafts" to select preferred players for a "fantasy" team, then compete against each other using competitive stats.
In the Piedmont instance, boys would "draft" female students, then attempt to engage in sexual activity with those "draftees." Points in the online competition were allegedly earned by documenting said sexual activity. Most students were unaware of being drafted.
The league existed for about five to six years, according to the principal's letter.
RAINBOW PARTIES
The publication of a paperback novel called Rainbow Party caused widespread concern among parents about teen sex. The book described oral-sex parties where girls each wear different shades of lipstick and boys would collect the colors.
A book editor at a division for young readers at the Simon & Schuster publishing house came up with the idea for the book after she encountered the term "Rainbow Party" through the Oprah Winfrey television show, when a magazine writer discussed various codes for sex that teens were using. The writer said she talked to 50 girls who said the practice was "pervasive."
The editor then took the idea to writer Paul Ruditis, who wrote the novel.
Researchers studying sexual activities of teen students nationwide largely determined the practice of "rainbow parties" was more urban legend than reality, fueled by a moral panic about the habits of teens.
"THE LOST CHILDREN OF ROCKDALE COUNTY"
A 1999 PBS "Frontline" documentary called "The Lost Children of Rockdale County" told the story of a Georgia suburb in which more than 200 students, some as young as 12 and 13 years old, were affected by a syphilis outbreak purportedly brought on by rampant group sex.
The documentary surveyed the town of Conyers, the only town in the county of Rockdale, about 24 miles east of Atlanta. The documentary exposed a culture of "group sex, binge drinking, drugs and violence," according to the PBS description of the show.
Teens allegedly attended parties at various upper-middle-class homes where parents weren't home and took part in group sex. One county health official said some teens had as many as 100 sexual partners.
THE SPUR POSSE
In perhaps the most notorious of teen-sex competition scandals in the U.S., nine members of the so-called "Spur Posse" were arrested in 1993 in Lakewood, California, a suburb of Long Beach. Some of the suspects were pulled out of classrooms by sheriff's deputies.
The case made nationwide headlines and several members of the group made appearances on daytime talk shows, boasting of their exploits.
The Spur Posse, named after the San Antonio Spurs basketball team favored by the group's members, was composed of popular student athletes at Lakewood High School. Members scored points by engaging sex with female students. At least one of the girls was 11 years old.
Eight Spur Posse members faced felony counts of rape, unlawful intercourse and related charges. Of 17 sex-related cases presented to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, 15 were rejected. The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. determined that most encounters were consensual, even if statutorily illegal.
One girl described how boys would commonly show up at girls' windows at night, and that girls often complied because there were rumors of harm if they resisted.
The boys seemed unrepentant, even boastful; some members of the community appeared indifferent. Some, including female students, said some girls sought out the sex and bragged about it.
The sheriff's department invited 22 families with boys in the Spur Posse to a meeting at the school. Seven parents showed up.
The founder of the Spur Posse, Dana Belman, was later sentenced to 10 years on unrelated burglary charges. He had also been accused of trying to run over several girls with a pickup truck. Another member, Chris Albert, was fatally shot in an altercation in Huntington Beach two years after the scandal broke.
L.A. Times: 'Spur Posse goes on defensive',L.A. Times: 'Alleged founder sentenced',L.A. Times: 'Spur Posse legacy',New York Times, People
