Crowd gathers for emergency meeting at Cedar Shoals High School

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Anger and frustration boiled over at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens Wednesday night.  Parents, educators, and activists were asking why they were not told about a reported rape before media accounts surfaced.Many expressed their objections to the crowd on one of two microphones at the front of the gymnasium.

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On stage was Philip Lanoue, the Superintendent of the Clarke County School District, along with the Chief of  Athens Clarke County Police Department. Also in attendance were district support staff and advocates for sexual assault and domestic abuse victims.

Superintendent Philip Lanoue told the crowd there were missteps and communication breakdowns.

One concerned parent, Steve Stepstone, wondered why it took a dozen days after the superintendent saw a surveillance video of the incident to remove the three suspects from school.

Chief R. Scott Freeman, with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said the video backed the victims account of the incident.

The three suspects, Jaivious Malike Collins, 17, Dereek Brannon, 18, and Xavier Marquise Clarke, 18, are all being held without bond.

Joan Pritte, the Executive Director of Project Safe, a non profit working to end domestic violence and sexual abuse, said she hopes the incident opens community discussion in preventing sexual abuse.