The men accused of beating and raping a Richmond High School student on school grounds during a homecoming dance have pleaded not guilty. The suspects -- Cody Smith, 15, and Ari Morales, 16; Marcelles Peter, 17; Manuel Ortega, 19, Jose Montano, 18, and Elvis Torrentes, 21 - have been charged with "a variety of crimes including an acting in concert charge that opens the door for a life sentence." In a case that's received national attention, anything less than life sentences for all of the suspects (if proven guilty) will be unacceptable.

KTVU reports, "All of the defendants except for Torrentes also face enhancements that make them eligible for a life sentence."

While these men who (allegedly) beat and raped the victim for an astounding two-and-a-half hour period -- which, let's face it, could have been prevented if they kept security staff around, or make some sort of ground check themselves during the dance -- as many as a dozen others watched the rape in progress.

As of today, neither the Richmond school's principal Julio Franco (email) or assistant school principals Nancy Ivey (email) and Jose DeLeon (email), all of whom failed to hire proper security or personally check school grounds during the two-and-a-half-hour gang rape, have yet to resign.