The Ramapo community is in shock after the disturbing sex crime charges were filed against the children, all students at Chestnut Ridge Middle School.
The victims are 12 and 14 years old, and they told authorities they were repeatedly sexually assaulted from last Monday until Thursday inside a home. The girls attend a different school.
"It's just a shame," one mother said. "That's such a young age for them to even possibly think of something like that, doing that, of that stature."
On Friday, the girls reportedly told their parents, and the three 13-year-olds and one 12-year-old were arrested Saturday.
"Thirteen, that's pretty low," another mother said. "I mean, there's never a right age to commit a crime like that, but it's really young."
The suspects were were arraigned on felony sex charges in Rockland Family Court in New City. According to court documents, the 14-year-old girl was raped, sexually abused and beaten. The 12-year-old girl was the victim of an attempted rape and other offenses.
"It's not like just stealing some candy from a candy store," another mother said. "They actually hurt somebody that can hurt somebody for the rest of their life."
The boys deny the charges. One school official told Eyewitness News that the boys were not disciplinary problems at school. Attorneys for the boys are asking they be released because they have no criminal history and good academic records.
A judge will decide whether to release them on Thursday. The boys can not be charged as adults because the minimum age for criminal court prosecution is 14.
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