Girl Raped By Boys Under 15 Years Old

8-Year-Old Raped By Boys Who Aren’t Even 15 Yet

Posted by: Catherine Strawn Filed in: news
8:30AM, Saturday July 25th 2009

This is a sad story. If you are looking for something uplifting to start your weekend, stop reading right now.

Police in Phoenix, AZ, went out to investigate reports of hysterical screaming. They found four boys, all under age 15, and a partially clothed 8-year-old girl running from an empty shed. The boys, ages 9 to 14, now face charges ranging from sexual assault to kidnapping. Investigators say they lured the girl to the shed by offering her gum. Then, they held her down and took turns raping her for about 10 to 15 minutes.

It’s unbelievable to me that preteen boys could rape a young girl. Do they even understand sex at that age? I suppose they must for this to happen. But thinking back on my own elementary school years, I have a hard time wrapping my head around this. How did they get the idea to do this? From TV? From video games? From their own parents?

The 14-year-old boy was charged Wednesday as an adult with two counts of sexual assault and kidnapping. The other boys were charged as juveniles with sexual assault. But what about the 8-year-old girl? When her family found out what happened, they criticized her. Police Sgt. Andy Hill said the father told the case worker and an officer that he didn’t want his child back.

All five of the children involved are refugees from Liberia, and in that part of the world, women are often blamed when they are raped. But cultural differences can’t be used as an excuse here, for anyone’s actions, and I hope the girl is found a supportive place to grow up, where she can be taught that what happened was not her fault. [CBS News]

comments

crustee
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 09:28 am: [report]

And I just vomited all over my keyboard. Frisky, please send a replacement to Pluto because I just want to get as far away from here as possible.

MichelleS1017
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 09:47 am: [report]

wish the father could be charged as well..

eowyntrek
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 10:04 am: [report]

While I agree that this is a terrible story, systematic rape of women as a weapon of war is used by dictatorial regimes and rebel movements all over the world to spread systematic terror and gain power. It’s not a stretch that children from Liberia, which was in a civil war as recently as 2003, and whose parents are refugees from that country, and who as young children (14 year old would have been 8 at the time) to have witnessed and been traumatized by that conflict. We can’t judge what we haven’t experienced. I hope that all involved are able to receive the mental health care that they need to deal with the legacies of war.

yarngasm
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]

@MichelleS1017 - I completely agree. I know it’s the “norm” of their culture, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking.

kmatter
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 08:49 pm: [report]

oh.my.god. that’s terrible!and creepy… and just depressing… and i think the father should have his d**k chopped off, just for being that heartless. it’s not like his little 8 year old daughter was running around asking for it…

retro chic
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 11:20 pm: [report]

@eowyntrek: I’m not familiar with Liberian war atrocities, but that seems like the most plausible and insightful explanation; and if true, I agree that it should be handled with rehabilitation, not jailtime.

I’m just surprised they even bothered with the lure of gum. The poor girl… gang rape, trauma, betrayal, rejection, displacement, court proceedings – all before the 3rd grade. How much can an 8-yo girl take?

Alexa
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 11:30 pm: [report]

Rape itself wasn’t even a crime in Liberia until 2006. Says something for that #&@$% up country and where these people came from. It’s something they’ve lived with forever.

And I also agree with MichelleS1017. I wish there was something they could charge the father with.

retro chic
wrote on July 25 2009 @ 11:49 pm: [report]

Alexa and MichelleS1017: nothing Criminally, unfortunately (unless he abused or abandoned her), other than Family Court using his statements against him denouncing her, and requesting she not return. He could be painted unfit, in case he changes his mind, then at least she’s protected. If they wanted to, I’m sure they could string together a home investigation and this incident into some allegations.

No matter what happens in his country of origin, he’s still the adult in charge, expected to protect his child under our laws – not add to the certain damage. AZ is a Red state, they may go hard on him or all of them.

Heatherer
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 12:19 am: [report]

I’m surprised that the comments focus on the fact that they are Liberian refugees. That shouldn’t even be a factor in any of this, let alone the focus.

I was raped as a child by another child three years older than me. We both grew up in the middle of suburban America. Nobody would think to blame where I grew up as a factor of my rape, and they shouldn’t in this case either.

hereshestands
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 01:36 am: [report]

How absolutely horrible. Aren’t we lucky that in the western culture we aren’t frowned upon for being females. That just makes my stomach sick. And that father should have his balls chopped off so he can’t have anymore children and maybe then he might have a bit of sympathy.

eskim00ninja
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 02:58 am: [report]

I’ll freaking take that poor little girl in then! I really pray to God that things take a better turn for her. At least that she gets a good therapist (physical & psychiatric).

The father seems hopeless of his own demise…and those boys are in need of years of isolation. If the 14 year old who is charged as an adult serves time you know he’ll get raped. Rapists are always raped in the clink.

Alexa
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 09:01 am: [report]

@Heatherer, the focus on their cultural background is essential to understanding why they’re reacting the way they do. It’s not to excuse it, of course, but it does allow one to understand why the reactions are what they are. As I said, rape wasn’t even illegal there until three years ago, so those folks grew up in an environment where what they experienced was normative behavior.

retro chic
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 09:35 am: [report]

@heatherer: I’m truly sorry you had to endure such a trauma, esp at such a young age – awful, I can’t imagine it. I try to temper my view until the facts come out. No one was suggesting the Understanding of something replaces the Consequence of it. Chances are, you will be right, and the book will be thrown at them with what the law allows. I don’t think punishment and rehabilitation are mutually exclusive, tho, esp for the younger ones. I hope there are alt facilities that take them out of the home where the problem is perpetuated to prevent future rapes.