A youngster is going through severe felony expenses stemming from an alleged rape that occurred throughout an lively shooter drill at an Indiana highschool.

Keith Miller, 17, of Hammond, Indiana, has been charged with rape, prison confinement and sexual battery. His bail was set at $50,000.

The incident reportedly occurred between 8:15 and eight:30 a.m. November 12, 2021, at Morton Excessive Faculty in Hammond. Miller was reportedly in a darkish instrument storage room with a 16-year-old feminine band classmate in the course of the drill.

In response to The Occasions of Northwest Indiana, a trainer instructed college students to go inside a room with the lights off. When the sufferer entered the storage room, it was pitch black.

She reportedly advised police that Miller ran into her and requested, "Who is that this?" Courtroom data point out that after she advised him her identify, he allegedly put his hand inside her pants. When the sufferer advised him "to sit back," he allegedly continued touching her sexually–together with placing her hand inside his pants.

Rape Victim
A teen, 17, has been charged for allegedly raping a highschool classmate final November throughout an lively shooter drill at an Indiana highschool.iStock/Getty Photos

The sufferer advised police that Miller allegedly penetrated her together with his finger, data present, however she remained silent as a result of that's a part of lively shooter drills. She additionally mentioned he was too sturdy for her.

When the lights got here again on, she reportedly mentioned Miller – who was the one particular person close to her – stopped touching her. She instantly went to her desk and cried, continuing to inform associates what occurred.

She finally went to the college's steering workplace, the place her dad and mom had been contacted and later transported her to an area hospital for a sexual assault examination.

A witness reportedly corroborated the sufferer's account in a textual content dialog that was supplied to police by the sufferer's mom. The witness advised police she was standing within the neighborhood of the sufferer and Miller in the course of the alleged assault.

One other witness reportedly advised police that the sufferer known as her and was in tears as a result of Miller allegedly touched her with out consent.

A Hammond faculty administrator and Hammond Police met with the sufferer just a little over an hour after the alleged sexual assault, discovering the sufferer "visibly upset and crying."

The Rape, Abuse & Incest Nationwide Community experiences that females are the victims in each 9 out of 10 rapes. Nearly all of youngster victims, or about 66 %, are between the ages of 12 and 17.

The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention contains sexual abuse when referring to "antagonistic childhood experiences" in youngsters between start and 17 years. Such experiences have been linked to continual well being issues, psychological sickness and substance use in adolescence and maturity, along with negatively impacting schooling, job alternatives, and incomes potential.

About 61 % of adults surveyed throughout 25 states reported at the least one kind of antagonistic childhood expertise earlier than age 18.

"Kids rising up with poisonous stress might have problem forming wholesome and secure relationships," the CDC says. "They might even have unstable work histories as adults and battle with funds, jobs, and despair all through life. These results may also be handed on to their very own youngsters."

Miller's future court docket dates stay unknown.

Newsweek reached out to the Hammond Police Division and Lake County Sheriff's Workplace for remark.