BOISE, Idaho — Update: Prosecutors tell KTVB that the 16-year-old is being charged as an adult.
The original story follows:
The Boise residents accused of gang-raping an 18-year-old woman in Kuna appeared in Fourth Judicial District Court on Friday.
The four suspects, 19-year-old Elias Lupango, 18-year-old Rashidi Mulanga, 18-year-old Swedi Iyombelo and a 16-year-old boy, had their consolidated case automatically propelled to the district court level after a grand jury indicted them earlier this month on rape charges.
For the first time Friday, the 16-year-old appeared in court with the other three suspects.
In court, the four heard formal charges but did not enter a plea.
The alleged sexual assault happened Feb. 7 in a neighborhood in Kuna. According to prosecutors, the victim had talked with Iyombelo over Snapchat, then agreed to meet him.
When she arrived, the woman told police Iyombelo and the 16-year-old suspect climbed into her car before Iyombelo and her began having consensual sex. During the encounter, she told him to stop, but Iyombelo continued to have sex with her, the woman said.
The victim told police that the 16-year-old, Lupango and Mulanga then took turns having sex with her, even though she told them to stop.
Prosecutors say that two of the suspects admitted after their arrest that the victim had not given them permission to have sex with her.
The suspects have denied raping the woman. According to a defense attorney, the defendants say they had agreed to pay the 18-year-old to have sex with all four of them.
Upon request from the four defense teams, Judge Michael Reardon continued the proceedings to April 2.