Police say they did not initially make news of the crime public so as not to endanger the investigation. The seven other gang members, aged 14 to 17, were arrested soon after the 11-year-old girl came forward to report the crime.
The older girl has also been charged for abetting the commission of rape. Police say the girl was lured to Victoriano Park in Moreno Valley, Calif., by an older girl, who she may have known and who may have been working for the gang. The March 10 rape may have been part of a perverse gang initiation rite, according to police who said the teens would be further prosecuted on gang-enhanced charges and could be charged as adults.
Sykes is the oldest and last charged member of a group of seven other teens who police say are all members of a local street gang known as the South Side Mafia.