One of 9 Students to Be Charged in Campus Sex Case : Lakewood: D.A. rejects charges against four youths, seeks more evidence on others accused of rape and assaults.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office Monday agreed to file only a single charge of lewd conduct in a case against nine current and former Lakewood High School students accused of raping or molesting young girls and keeping an account of their sexual conquests.

The single felony charge is to be filed today against a juvenile who was being held on suspicion of lewd conduct with a minor under age 14, said Suzanne Childs, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. Seven youths were released late Monday as the district attorney’s office rejected possible charges against four teen-agers and demanded further evidence before proceeding against three others.

Evidence against the final suspect, who was arrested over the weekend, has not been reviewed, Childs said.

District attorney’s deputies, who spent much of the weekend reviewing evidence and talking to witnesses, concluded that in the case of four youths, the sex acts occurred with the consent of the teen-age girls involved.

Although the case, which has drawn nationwide publicity, could involve additional charges based on further investigation, the action by the district attorney’s office represents a victory for members of Spur Posse, the clique of mostly teen-agers who readily acknowledged their desire to have sex with large numbers of young girls.

“It was this office’s opinion that the only provable charges against (those suspects) were charges of unlawful intercourse with a minor,” Childs said. Although, technically, such charges represent a felony, the district attorney’s policy is not to file the case if the consent involves a boy and girl of similar age and social experience, she said.

“We feel that is better left to the parents and churches and social organizations” to handle the issue, Childs said.

Sheriff’s investigators, who had talked of making additional arrests as the investigation widened, could not be reached after the announcement made at the close of business. However, community reaction in Lakewood was mixed as families of the accused celebrated and parents of the alleged victims talked to one another by phone while maintaining strict silence in the face of the media, fearful of jeopardizing the continuing investigation.

Lakewood resident Don Belman, whose 18-year-old son, Kristopher, was the only suspect identified by authorities because the others are juveniles, described the family as elated.

“I’m very pleased, and I really support the judicial system,” the aerospace products salesman commented. “I was sure (Kris) would be vindicated. I knew he was not guilty. But it has been difficult.”

Belman especially praised Deputy Dist. Atty. Miranda Kane for what he called a professional attitude toward the suspects and the charges. “She more or less took me by the hand and confronted me and comforted me,” Belman said. “Basically, she gave me great hope and I trusted her immensely.”

The family celebrated “the American way”--by going out for hamburgers at McDonald’s, Belman said.

Jeff Howard, 20, a member of the Spur Posse, said about 40 friends and relatives met outside Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey to greet the suspects as they were released. “Everybody was clapping and hugging and saying, ‘It’s good to see you guys,’ ” Howard said, noting that he was not surprised by the decision to drop many of the charges.

“You knew it was going to happen because there’s no proof at all,” Howard said. “Anybody could say, ‘Oh, I got raped. . . .’ I just think it’s all a big joke, and it’s all been blown out of proportion as far as I’m concerned.”

Howard, like other Spurs, insisted that the charges were initiated by girls who were, in some cases, upset about being rebuffed after the sexual encounters. “Maybe they were upset . . . or a little mad because they got used,” he said.

Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, however, had insisted that at least one alleged victim was forcibly raped and that at least two others were coerced with verbal threats into having sex.

The allegations, which have dominated public attention in the middle-class community near Long Beach, are so sensitive that many residents declined to discuss their reactions to Monday’s events.

One parent noted that the families of alleged victims are being strongly cautioned by authorities to say nothing.

One man talked only on the condition that his name not be used and described members of the Spurs as troublemakers responsible for widespread problems in the community.

However, a woman, who also requested anonymity, said her niece, who attends the high school, said that the alleged victims were mostly girls who sought the attention of the boys.

“I could see where some of these charges would be dropped,” the woman said. “It was an overreaction to start with.”