Police: Four boys sexually assaulted 8-year-old girl

Police: Four boys sexually assaulted 8-year-old girl

updated 1:41 a.m. EDT, Thu July 23, 2009

By Monica Trevino
CNN

(CNN) -- Four boys ages 9 to 14 have been charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year old girl, police in Phoenix, Arizona, said Wednesday.

The girl was lured into a vacant storage shed by the suspects, who offered her chewing gum, police said at a news conference.

The girl was restrained while the boys -- ages 9, 10, 13 and 14 -- sexually assaulted her, police said of the July 16 incident.

All the suspects except for the 14-year-old live in the same apartment complex, according to Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill. The 14-year-old has been charged as an adult, Hill said.

Detectives said the girl was placed in the custody of Phoenix child protective services after the attack because of her parents' attitude toward her.

The girl and the boys charged are all from families that have come to the United States from the West African nation of Liberia, police said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/22/ari ... index.html