Glen Ridge Rape - People Involved

People Involved

• The Victim – Known as Leslie Faber in the book and movie, her real name was never made public. She was 17 at the time of the incident. Her IQ has variously been reported as 65 or 49, and is said to have had the mental development of an 8 year old second grader. What is said to have made her so susceptible to the rape was that she would do whatever she thought was necessary to be friends with someone, especially the athletes, whom she idolized. Her assailants raped her with a baseball bat, a broom and a stick. She had been sexually assaulted before in 1983, in an unrelated incident. This was also not her first encounter with these boys, some of whom had previously tricked her into licking a pen coated with dog feces and sticking a hot dog in her vagina. While technically a student at Glen Ridge, she primarily attended classes at Columbia High School.
• Detective Sheila Byron – Main investigator of the case. She had graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981.
• Richard Corcoran (Sr.) – A local police Lieutenant and detective. Father of one of the assailants.
• Detective Robert Griffin – Conducted the initial interviews at the school.
• Robert Laurino – Prosecutor who tried the case.
• Herbert H. Tate Jr. – Essex County prosecutor.
• Raymond Weiss – Spokesman for Tate.
• Chris Archer – Assailant, 17 at the time of the rape, Reportedly the ringleader, and the one who convinced the victim to come down to the basement. Younger brother of Paul Archer (by one year).
• Kevin Scherzer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape, and co-captain and linebacker for the football team.
• Kyle Scherzer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Twin brother of Kevin Scherzer. Captain of the baseball team, co-captain and quarterback of the football team. He applied lubricant to the bags that covered the objects used to penetrate the victim. At one point, he passively suggested that they stop.
• Bryant Grober – Assailant, 17 at the time of the rape, orally raped the victim. Found guilty of conspiracy, sentenced to three years of probation and community service.
• Paul Archer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. He did not actually do any of the assault, but stood by and did nothing to stop it. A date with him was promised to the victim if she would come down to the basement. The victim had a crush on Paul, and Bernard Lefkowitz’s book alleges that he was occasionally nice to her, unlike others in the town. Captain of the wrestling team. Plead guilty.
• Peter Quigley – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Co-captain of the football team. Did not participate but verbally encouraged the others.
• Richard "Richie" Timothy Corcoran Jr. – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Son of a local police Lieutenant, reportedly penetrated the victim with a stick. His involvement presence at the scene of the rape was discovered on April 11, 1989, and prompted prosecutors to assume control of the case the next day and remove Corcoran's father from the case. All charges against Corcoran were dropped.
• Mari Carmen Ferraez – Paul Archer's girlfriend, taped a conversation in which she led the victim into answering questions in a way that made the rape seem consensual. Since the taping violated no recording laws, Ferraez was charged only with witness tampering, but the charges were later dropped.
• Charles "Charlie" Figueroa – An African American student at Glen Ridge (one of only 3 in his graduating class) and a member of the football team. Because of being African American, he was not considered part of the inner circle of football players. He told a teacher about the incident after the teacher overheard him discussing the rumors about it with another student. He had been asked by the boys involved to tape a planned second incident (which never occurred). This was reportedly how the rape first came to be known about outside of the student body. Charlie was not present during the rape. He and his family were reportedly further ostracized by people in Glen Ridge who considered him a snitch, while many outsiders have since concluded that he acted honorably.
• Phil Grant – A senior baseball player who left while the victim was undressing. He also persuaded a friend to leave and tried to get Paul Archer to leave.
• Michael Buonomo – The principal of Glen Ridge High School at the time.
• Benedict Tantillo – Vice-principal of Glen Ridge High School.
• John Vincent Saykanic – Kevin Scherzer's defense attorney.
• Donald W. Merkelbach – Defense Attorney for the Scherzer twins.
• Ronald Kuby – Charles Figueroa's Attorney.
• Sidney H. Reiss – Judge of the Superior Court. Arraigned the Scherzer twins and Peter Quigley.
• Bernard Lefkowitz – Author who wrote a book detailing the events of the rape and the town’s reaction.