HOUSTON – Police on Friday released the identities of four men accused in the sexual assault of a middle school student in Cleveland.
The suspects are Jared Len Cruse, 18; Isaiah Rashad Ross, 21; Timothy Daray Ellis, 19; and Rayford Tyrone Ellis, Jr., 19. All four men are from Cleveland.
Ross is the son of Cleveland ISD School Board Vice President Billy Ross, Jr. The elder Ross is also a City of Cleveland employee.
Court records show Rayford Tyrone Ellis, Jr., was charged with manslaughter in March of last year in an unrelated case.
The four suspects are not students at Cleveland High School, police said. They were all were being held in the Liberty County Jail Friday.
Cleveland ISD police said the 12-year-old girl reported the alleged assault to her principal’s office in early December. She told school officials she was raped by as many as 20 men and boys, and it happened in an abandoned mobile home over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Texas Rangers and Cleveland police searched a mobile home near the corner of Ross and 2nd Street after the girl reported the alleged assault. Police said they also processed a second, unnamed scene for evidence.
Investigators confiscated some cell phones, but they would not confirm or deny if there were video recordings made of the assault that were shown around the community.
Police said more arrests are expected in the near future.
And while none of the four men in custody were Cleveland High students, people in the community believe that some students will be charged in the case.
The school district said their police department is working close with the city police department in the investigation.
If convicted, the four suspects could face up to life in prison.
