Friends describe Jose Ignacio Avina as a bully who likes taking things from other children, while his mother believes he's a kind, misunderstood child. But all agree that the 14-year-old is not a rapist.
"He is not a perfect person, but I don't believe he would make a mistake like that," his mother, Matilda Avina, said Tuesday, wiping tears from her swollen eyes during an interview. "He's not capable of doing it."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday November 27, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 57 words Type of Material: Correction
Rape suspect -- An article in some editions of Wednesday's California section about teenage rape suspect Jose Ignacio Avina attributed to Anaheim Union High School District officials information about Avina having been expelled from a school because of poor attendance and then enrolling in another. That information should have been attributed to Avina's mother and his friends.
Avina is accused of raping two boys, 12 and 14, at knifepoint near their Anaheim junior high school, making him the youngest person ever in the county to be charged as an adult with a sexual offense. The boy is being held on $1-million bail at Juvenile Hall.
While Avina's friends and family expressed disbelief, school district administrators said they had waited to tell parents about the alleged attacks until they had more information. Parents received a recorded telephone call Tuesday evening telling them that Ball Junior High School was safe and that a follow-up letter with more details would be sent today. Some families said they should have been told earlier.
"I'm shocked," said Alex Fausto, waiting to pick up his 12-year-old son at the school. "If they knew about this, how come they haven't let us know about it?"
In addition to the two alleged rapes, Avina is accused of robbing a third boy and trying to rob a fourth as they walked to and from school within the last month, all from Oct. 4 to Nov. 15. Prosecutors say the youth approached the boys with a knife near Euclid Avenue and Ball Road, then took them to secluded areas to steal their money or assault them. For that reason, Avina is also accused of kidnapping. And with alleged use of a weapon, he faces 12 counts in all.
Officials with the Anaheim Union High School District said they were not aware of the investigation until Monday. District policy, said Tracy Brennan, an assistant superintendent, generally calls for administrators such as principals to notify the district -- and police -- of any serious situation.
But one seventh-grader, who said Avina tried to rob him last week, said he told the principal at Ball about the incident. The 12-year-old, interviewed after school Tuesday, said Avina, clutching a knife with a 2- to 3-inch blade, tried to rob him Nov. 15 as he was walking to school. He said Avina told him to give him "a dollar or anything else valuable." When the 12-year-old said he didn't have anything, Avina ordered him to go into a nearby alley.
