Facebook Gang Rape Warning For Hillsboro Nothing To Fear: Police

HILLSBORO, OR — A Hillsboro woman's warning posted to Facebook Wednesday offers sound advice, but is not something Washington County residents should be overly concerned about, according to law enforcement officials.

Heidi Garland on Wednesday posted to her Facebook page a picture she claims was taken at Hillsboro Pharmacy & Fountain. Shared more than 40 times by Thursday afternoon, the picture depicts a warning sign advising residents — women in particular — not to pick up any young people crying on the side of the road lest they risk being raped by gang members. The sign was supposedly provided by an unspecified sheriff's department, though Garland implies it was Washington County's.

"This is from a County Sheriffs Department, please read this message carefully," the notice says, emphasizing its importance for women driving or walking alone. "If you find a young person crying on the road showing you their address and is asking you to take them to that address … take that child to the POLICE STATION!!"

The warning, which cites CNN and Fox News as its source, goes on to explain "this is a new way for gang members to rape women."

"Looks like it’s a generic posting circulating social media nationally, from [generic] County Sheriff’s Office, maybe?," WCSO spokesman Dep. Jeff Talbot told Patch Thursday. "Super weird."

(Editor's Note: Garland made private her previously public Facebook post after Patch published this article.)

Talbot confirmed the sheriff's office hasn't issued any such alert and added the threat mentioned in the post is not an issue Washington County law enforcement has faced. Hillsboro police spokesman Lt. Henry Reimann agreed.

"Is it good advice? Probably in nature, yeah," he said. "You should never just let anyone get in your car … but we're not seeing this in Washington County."

Hillsboro Pharmacy & Fountain manager Kathy Schmidlkofer told Patch no such sign was ever taped to the door of the business, but confirmed Garland's twin sister works there.

Garland told Patch she never actually saw the sign herself, adding her sister's co-worker at the pharmacy was the person who supposedly put it on the window.

Both Talbot and Reimann said there's nothing specifically illegal about making the claim purported in the picture, or implying that a local law enforcement agency first issued the alert. And while it's not a message either agency would send out — certainly not in that format, they said — as long as the message isn't causing a panic, there's nothing they can do about it.

Image: TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay.com