8 year old rape victim's sister wants the perps released because "we are the same people"

[Liberal_in_LA]

(CNN) -- With four Phoenix, Arizona, boys ages 9 to 14 charged with sexual assault on an 8-year-old girl, a prosecutor vowed Thursday his office will "seek justice for the young victim in this heartrending situation."

Police say a girl was lured to a storage shed at an apartment complex where she was sexually assaulted.

-------------------------------

"This is a deeply disturbing case that has gripped our community," said Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas.

CNN affiliate KTVK said it interviewed the girl's 23-year-old sister, who said she was baby-sitting the girl at the time of the alleged attack.

The sister, who was not identified by name by the station, expressed mixed feelings about her sister's attack. "I came to her and said it's not good for you to be following guys because you are still little," the sister told KTVK. She also said that she wanted the suspects to be released from jail because "we are the same people."

"When she comes back I'm going to tell her don't ever do that again because all of us, we are the same family, we are from the same place. Now she is just bringing confusion among us. Now the other people, they don't want to see her," the sister told KTVK.

Tony Weedor, a Liberian who fled civil war with his family and now lives in the Denver, Colorado, area, told CNN that cultural aspects are deep in the case. In Liberia rape was not against the law until 2006, he said.

"The family have been shamed by her, not a crime, but the name of the family has been degraded and news will get back to Liberia. And they're more concerned about that than the crime," said Weedor, who is co-founder of the CenterPoint International Foundation, which aids Liberian refugees in the United States and provides aid for those still in Liberia.

Edwin Sele, the deputy ambassador of Liberia to the United States, also responded to the incident.

"Having heard the story myself, I'm outraged," he said. "In Liberia, the family and law enforcement officers would be embracing the victim. To hear that the family is not doing that, that should be an isolated case.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/23/phoenix.juvenile.assault/index.html

[slackmaster]

1. I wish the press would show a little restraint in cases like this

They should leave the victim and her family alone. This is a personal tragedy and a criminal matter. It's twisted and sad, but there is no real value in most of us learning sordid details and what the victim's sister thinks about anything.

K&U

:kick:

[joeybee12]

2. Um, the victim was taken from her family because of attitudes like her

sister's...I don't consider the "family" at all innocent in this and should be left alone...this sort of thing should not be tolerated.

[rucky]

17. yep. as long as the kid has a decent guardian now

I don't give a flying fuck what happens to that family.

[Odin2005]

4. No, these people need to be humiliated, maybe that will change their sick, misogynistic views.

[brendan120678]

7. Hey...I agree with you on this topic.

That girls parents, who have publicly stated that they are disgraced and embarrassed by what happened to their little girl, are completely twisted. They need to get their priorities straight.

[slackmaster]

12. Do you think they should be sent back to Africa?

;-)

[JI7]

14. so they can rape more people there ?

they should be put in prison .

the current leaders in liberia have spoken out against the parents and the rape.

[kegler14]

9. Wait, the family is embarrassed by the girl and

officials are so concerned about her welfare that they take her from the parents and you don't think that's p[art of the story? Sorry, but sick people like this need to be exposed. I don't care that they come from a different culture. They're in THIS culture now. And condoning rape or blaming the girl for it doesn't pass muster.

[rucky]

18. It's not even a cultural matter.

These are basic human rights. Maybe I'm naive, but I couldn't even conceive that a country (founded by the U.S., nonetheless) wouldn't have rape laws until Chuck Taylor got ousted a few years abo. I guess there's no oil in Liberia, so this is the first we heard of it.

[csziggy]

21. It may be a class or religious problem rather than cultural

Edwin Sele, the deputy ambassador of Liberia to the United States, also responded to the incident.

"Having heard the story myself, I'm outraged," he said. "In Liberia, the family and law enforcement officers would be embracing the victim. To hear that the family is not doing that, that should be an isolated case.

I wonder if that is why this little group (because it is not just the one family) left Liberia?

[rucky]

22. There were not rape laws until 2006

so this is an example of a nation rotting from the top-down because of bad leadership and bad policy. The government tells would-be rapists that it's okay. Would-be victims are powerless, and soon enough, they just learn to accept it as part of life. All the sudden a dictator is ousted, and now the ambassador can somewhat credibly say "hey, don't blame us".

We could've easily influenced this policy decades ago, given our history with Liberia. I don't think there were ever any attempts.

[UndertheOcean]

3. Some cultures don't deserve tolerance.

"but the name of the family has been degraded and news will get back to Liberia"

!????!!!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?

[undeterred]

19. Maybe its the family and not the culture.

Edwin Sele, the deputy ambassador of Liberia to the United States, also responded to the incident.

"Having heard the story myself, I'm outraged," he said. "In Liberia, the family and law enforcement officers would be embracing the victim. To hear that the family is not doing that, that should be an isolated case.

[Tim01]

5. Color me intolerant. nt

[TwilightGardener]

6. OMG--first the attack itself, then the parents disown the little girl, then the sister

defends the attackers. This poor little girl can't get a break from ANYONE who supposedly loves her. What a sick-ass family and culture.

[AuntPatsy]

8. Stories like this make me wonder why man believes themselves to be important

in any way, humanity at its finest, sadly such stories are not limited to any one country and or ethnic group regardless of what some choose to believe.

[NashVegas]

10. Wow, That's Some Grade-A Baby-sitting. She Should Be Ashamed

Indeed.

When I look at it in that light I can finally understand why such an incident would shame a whole family. It shows what miserable care they take of their own.

Unfortunately, "honor killing" off such a child doesn't bring with it a sudden improvement of their fitness to raise children.

[surrealAmerican]

11. She should be more than ashamed, ...

... she should be investigated for criminal child neglect.

[redqueen]

13. Agreed.

What a sick, horrible person.

[JI7]

15. yup, you have to wonder if the girl knew what was going to happen but did nothing

because she felt the little girl was just getting what she deserved for behaving badly. teaching her a lesson.

it's just so fucked up.

[undeterred]

20. Telling an 8 year old not to follow boys around

is pretty inadequate... but for boys that young to be so vicious is also amazing.

[erasmia]

16. OMG where are we leading to?