A year after Cleveland was rocked by allegations that an 11-year-old girl was gang-raped by 20 boys and men, the first admissions of guilt by three suspects this week could help this small timber town heal from a divisive scandal that seized national attention.
Three boys, who were 14 to 16 years old at the time the sixth-grade girl was assaulted, have admitted their part in the scandal in plea agreements presented to Liberty County court-at-law Judge Tommy Chambers.
