14-year-old Oakland boy charged with robbery, sexual assault

A 14-year-old Oakland boy was charged Wednesday with four felony counts for allegedly robbing and sexually assaulting two 28-year-old women, according to court documents.

The boy turned himself in at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro on Monday, two days after Oakland police asked for the public's help in locating him.

Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said that in the first attack on Jan. 6, a woman was walking in the 1200 block of Market Street around 10 p.m. when a male who appeared to be armed with a gun approached her and demanded her wallet, police said.

The robber then forced the woman to an isolated area, where he sexually assaulted her, police said.

The second attack occurred around 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 12 in the 600 block of 11th Street.

Watson said that in that case, another woman was approached by a stranger on a bicycle who simulated a handgun and demanded her purse, police said. As in the first attack, the woman was taken to an isolated area where she was sexually assaulted.

Watson said it appears the attacker simulated a handgun in both incidents.

The boy is charged with two counts of robbery and one count each of sexual assault and kidnapping for sexual assault.

Mary Boone, the suspect’s grandmother, told KTVU Tuesday she walked with him to the authorities.

“I said, 'Can I hug my grandson?' The man let me and then he handcuffed him,” said Boone.

Boone said she believed that her grandson was not guilty of the two sexual assault charges but she had no choice but to turn him in because police had already put out his name to the public.

“I talked to him and he said he don't know nothing about no woman,” said Boone.

But the boy's family members said they're furious over the release of his name and have contacted the NAACP as well as a civil rights attorney.

 “I ain't going quietly into the night. I'm going to file my $3 million lawsuit for slandering a 14-year-old kid's life,” said Boone.

A 14-year-old, who they said still can't read or write.

“He's a mentally ill child and they got his name exploited like this!,” said the boy’s aunt, Sheilah Patterson.

While the Oakland Unified School District confirmed Tuesday that the suspect was enrolled at Oakland High last semester his family says he's been in and out of juvenile hall since then. Boone said her grandson admitted only to stealing a bike and not to the sexual assaults Tuesday.

Alameda County District Attorney spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said the boy is charged as a juvenile at this point but her office will file a motion to ask that he be remanded to adult court after a behavioral study is completed.

The boy is being held in custody and is scheduled to have a detention hearing in Alameda County Juvenile Court at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.