3 Fresno High students arrested for sexually assaulting child, deputies say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Three Fresno High School freshmen were accused of sexually assaulting a child off campus. were arrested Thursday.

The alleged crime is upsetting community members.

"It's shocking, it's disturbing. It's sad to imagine human beings behaving that way and treating another human being as they way they did," said Rachel Rodriguez.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says on April 4th, the school resource officer at Fresno High learned students were sharing an explicit video of the incident.

"What's really important is to commend the students who stepped forward," said Tony Botti with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

"Those who are close to a situation and know that they can make a difference, they step up and they make reports, and that's exactly what these kids did."

Investigators say the video was shot last year and shows four students, who are now 14, sexually assaulting a now 10-year-old.

The young suspects are booked in juvenile hall on multiple felonies, including lewd and lascivious acts with force or fear, and possession of child pornography.

The case is still being investigated by the multi-agency Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The sheriff's office says one critical part of this case is the relationships that SROs have with students, which helps them feel comfortable reporting sensitive information.

Officers say they work on establishing that trust daily.

"The check-ins, the hellos, how are things going? And then as you get to know students, they get to know you, and then they become more comfortable. Once we actually get comfortable with each other, they can really rely on them as a resource," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Alvarado, a school resource officer.

Fresno Unified declined an interview but released a statement on the incident that reads, in part:

We are deeply disturbed and heartbroken by the incident shared by the Fresno County Sheriff's Office involving students from Fresno High School. While this horrific act did not occur on any Fresno Unified campus, we denounce this behavior in the strongest possible terms.

The statement went on to encourage reporting anything of concern to help protect children.

A fourth suspect was also identified, but officials say they have since moved to Mexico.

Authorities add that the child is not related to the suspects, so it's unclear how the victim came into contact with the teens.

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