Man, 19, Enters Plea in Attack

The last defendant charged in the gang rape of a 16-year-old Birmingham High School student pleaded no contest Thursday to one felony count of assault with intent to rape.

“The convictions ensure that all three defendants in adult court will be doing time in state prison for committing this horrible attack on a totally vulnerable and helpless victim,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Eduards R. Abele said.

Nathaniel Sanchez, 19, of Van Nuys, faces two to four years in state prison, Abele said. On Tuesday, Sanchez’s brother, Jose Sanchez, 18, of Van Nuys, and Alejandro Zamora, 17, of Reseda, pleaded no contest to one count of rape of an unconscious person.

They each could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.

Jose Sanchez and Zamora were minors when they committed the crime, but were charged as adults.

All three defendants were ordered to undergo psychological review. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff is scheduled to sentence them Nov. 15.

Abele credited the Los Angeles Police Department, the sexual assault response team at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and “the courageous victim” for helping to “bring these defendants to justice for their animal behavior.”

A 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty last December to accessory to rape. He was sentenced to the maximum of three years in custody.

The victim was among a group of teens--most of whom ditched classes at Birmingham High School--who attended a Dec. 1 party at the Van Nuys home of a classmate whose parents were at work.

The girl got drunk and passed out for as long as 15 hours. During that time, she was carried into a bedroom and raped by several party-goers, authorities said.

She was brought to the hospital, and a medical exam revealed she had been sexually assaulted.

The girl didn’t remember the attack, but there were bruises, cuts and bite marks on her body.