FLINT, MI -- Two of the four gang members charged with taking turns raping and tattooing a 13-year-old girl as part of an initiation pleaded guilty Thursday in Genesee Circuit Court.
Terry Taylor, 23, and Steven Washburn, 27, both pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct and committing a felony as part of gang membership before Genesee Circuit Judge Richard B. Yuille on June 21.
The pair told Yuille they were part of the Insane Spanish Cobra gang and admitted to raping a 13-year-old girl in 2014 as part of her initiation.
Taylor and Washburn said little outside of answering "yes," to Yuille's questioning about their roles in the incident.
Their attorneys declined to comment after Thursday's proceedings.
The girl had run away from home and previously testified during a five-hour preliminary exam she met the four at a party on Flint's east side.
According to testimony from the girl, the sexual assault and tattooing took place over two days in the summer of 2014 in a home on Franklin Street.
The victim did not want to testify in court again and has since moved out of state.
"The victim has indicated she does not wish to go through what she did at the preliminary exam," said Genesee County Assistant Prosecutor Karen Hanson. "We are not sure where she is. She told the advocate and the officer in charge that she doesn't want to be found or go through that again."
The judge said he understood why the victim did not want to return to court
"This is a very public case," Yuille said. "So while I wish that she had come back, I understand why she didn't. I wish the best for her."
Both Taylor and Washburn face up to 15 years in prison on the criminal sexual conduct charge and 20 years on the gang membership charge. They're scheduled for sentencing at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 27.
Also charged in the case is Jacob Yrles and Anthony Bunn.
Yrles, 20, is scheduled to appear in court at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 22.
Bunn previously pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct and committing a felony as part of gang membership, according to his attorney, Michael Ewing.
The plea agreement calls for Bunn to be on probation and tether, register as a sex offender and provide truthful testimony against his codefendants, according to court records.
"He wanted to be with the tough kids in town and ended up in over his head," Ewing said of Bunn. "He's spent a couple of years in jail now and when you're a young man that can really get your attention. He accepted responsibility for what he did up front."
Bunn, 19, is scheduled for sentencing at 2 p.m. on Monday, June 25.
The four were originally charged with more than 40 combined felonies in the case, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct, gang membership, gang recruitment, unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm and carrying a concealed weapon.
During a preliminary exam in May 2017, the victim testified she turned down the group's offer to join the Insane Spanish Cobras, which involved "rolling the dice" -- a gang initiation method that requires the recruit to have sex with the number of gang members rolled on a die.
Leaving a party, the girl and four defendants drove to a liquor store before going to the home on Franklin Street. In the car, the girl testified that Bunn brandished a handgun before placing it back in his pants.
When the group arrived at the home, the girl testified she got a "gut feeling" that something bad was about to happen when the four men allegedly huddled a yard away from her, talking in whispers.
Suddenly, she said Yrles grabbed her hand, leading her into the home's garage where he proceeded to tie a green bandana over her eyes and sexually assault her.
As Yrles left the garage, Bunn entered, telling her "you're not done yet," before stuffing his handgun under a couch cushion in the garage, she testified. With a green bandana covering his nose and mouth, Bunn then proceeded to sexually assault her, she said.
Taylor was next, then Washburn.
One by one and wearing bandana masks, the four assaulted the girl, she testified.
"I did not say yes and I was too scared to say no," she said in court. "I got the feeling there was no saying 'no.'"
The next day, the four took the girl to Yrles' bedroom, where they began to tattoo her hips -- on the left, a gang name she said they assigned to her, and on the right, the beginning of a three-point diamond Cobra insignia.
On her back, she said they drew two more large gang-related tattoos.