Big Crime Case, Little Town
BALDWIN: I'm going to tell you about a crime that's so terrible, so horrific and chilling, it may be impossible to get out of your head the rest of your day. This case is really, really big. It's ripping apart this tiny town in Texas. It's called Cleveland, just about 50 miles north of Houston. Eighteen men and boys have been arrested, thus far, in this alleged gang rape of an 11-year-old girl inside an old abandoned mobile home. Now, this case came to light when cell phone videos of the attacks started trickling around, circulating around the girl's school. The case is so hot that child protective services is actually keeping the girl at a safe house. She can't even live with her family right now. Cindy Horswell, a senior writer for "The Houston Chronicle" newspaper, she also spoke exclusively with this 11-year- old's mother. Listen to what Cindy told me.</s>CINDY HORSWELL, SENIOR WRITER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Her mother is saddened because she's prevented from being with her daughter as is her brothers and sisters and father.</s>BALDWIN: Why is that?</s>HORSWELL: They are separated. She's in a -- you know, children's protective services will not discuss the case because there's a gag order, but -- but they;ve had some hearings, and -- and the parents tell me that she's been put in foster care as a safe house because as these names come out, as the trial goes on, that it's going to become, you know, dangerous for actually them, too. They should move from the area, they believe, because there could be -- there are people calling the house and just saying, you know, like where is she, and they don't believe the mother that she's not there and then they cuss and get upset, and they're worried it could become worse than that, and so, they just kind of don't want any more pressure on her or the family.</s>BALDWIN: Understandable, understandable. I know you spoke with an attorney representing three of these young men. What did he say? What is his defense?</s>HORSWELL: Well, he believes that, you know, you can't -- he's not trying to say anything -- that whatever happened that anything would be good for an 11-year-old, but he said the little girl is not, you know, it wasn't like she was totally completely innocent in this case. It wasn't like she was kidnapped or something, and whether he was indicating that she might have been a willing participant.</s>BALDWIN: Yes. At age 11, as you point out, an 11-year-old cannot legally give consent.</s>HORSWELL: Right, and I -- and I do believe, at some point, a police affidavit says she was not -- that she was balking, and there were threats made.</s>BALDWIN: Now, two of the gang rape suspects did appear in court this morning. Two more are scheduled for court this afternoon. I promise we're going to stay on that story and follow that for you. Also coming up here, there's brand new video of the attacks from September 11th, 2001. The never-before-seen footage shot from a helicopter circling the World Trade Center. That is ahead. Plus, could American troops be on the ground in Libya? Might they be sent there? The White House says it's possible. "Globe Trekking" is next.