Grand jury in Phoenix indicts 14-year-old boy in rape of 8-year-old Liberian girl

August 29th, 2009 Audio of 911 call in Liberian rape case releasedPHOENIX — Police have released a recording of a 911 call in the case of an 8-year-old Liberian girl allegedly raped by four boys last month. In the five-minute call, the manager of a Phoenix building complex tells the dispatcher that a resident says a teenage boy locked the girl in a vacant apartment and had her screaming.

August 27th, 2009 Charges sought against Liberian girl's parentsPHOENIX — Phoenix police are seeking felony child abuse charges against the parents of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who was allegedly raped by four young boys. Police didn't name the adults, but reports accompanying the referral for charges identify the parents as the subject of the probe.

August 10th, 2009 Liberian official meets with young rape victimPHOENIX —Liberia's deputy ambassador to the U.S. said Sunday that he tried to console an 8-year-old rape victim in Phoenix with hugs and a teddy bear in a case that has gripped Liberians worldwide.

August 10th, 2009 Family friend: Liberian boy raised in refugee campPHOENIX —A Liberian teenager charged as an adult in the alleged gang rape of an 8-year-old girl in Phoenix pleaded not guilty Monday, as details of the boy's former life in an Ivory Coast refugee camp emerged. Yarsiah Sirleaf, who is now a neighbor of the teen in Phoenix and used to teach him Sunday school, told The Associated Press that the boy lived in the camp for about a decade and went through a daily struggle to eat.

August 10th, 2009 Liberian boy pleads not guilty in child rape casePHOENIX —A Liberian teenager charged as an adult in the gang rape of an 8-year-old girl from the same country pleaded not guilty on Monday. The 14-year-old appeared by video for the hearing in Phoenix, wearing a jail uniform.

August 5th, 2009 More adult charges sought in Ariz. child rape casePHOENIX — An Arizona prosecutor wants to charge a second child as an adult in the alleged rape of an 8-year-old Liberian girl at a Phoenix apartment complex.

August 3rd, 2009 Liberian official wants to meet rape victimPHOENIX — Liberia's deputy ambassador will travel to Phoenix in hopes of meeting with an 8-year-old rape victim, the four boys accused of attacking her, and their Liberian families in part to help dispel notions that rape is condoned in the West African country. Edwin Sele told The Associated Press Monday that he'll arrive on Wednesday and stay about a week.

August 2nd, 2009 Liberians in AZ worry about backlash in rape casePHOENIX — Leaders of Arizona's Liberian community said Sunday they're worried about stereotypes of the West African nation and potential backlash against its people in the aftermath of an 8-year-old girl's alleged rape by four boys. The leaders spoke of their concerns to a congregation of Liberians during a Sunday church service at Africa Faith Expressions in west Phoenix.

August 1st, 2009 Pastor: Liberian family misunderstood doctorPHOENIX — Statements made by the family of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who police say was raped by four boys included terrible mistakes that resulted from a language barrier, a pastor said Friday. The girl's father presumed she had not been raped after a doctor said she was OK, referring to her psychological state, said James Nyemah of Africa Faith Expressions, the family pastor.

July 28th, 2009 Key developments related to girl's 1983 slayingA chronology of events leading up to Tuesday's guilty plea by Brian Dugan in the death of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville: —February 1983: Jeanine abducted from her home. Her body is found two days later.

July 28th, 2009 8-year-old rape victim to remain in state handsPHOENIX — A Liberian man whose 8-year-old daughter allegedly was raped by four boys, and then reportedly shunned by her family, must wait at least three months before possibly regaining custody of the girl. The father, who is not being named to protect the girl's identity, met with Child Protective Services on Monday.

July 27th, 2009 Father of 8-year-old rape victim hopes for custodyPHOENIX — The father of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who was allegedly raped by four boys in a Phoenix apartment complex says he wants his daughter back with her family. Child Protective Services took custody of the girl after police said her parents blamed her for the July 16 assault and didn't want her anymore.

July 25th, 2009 Girl shunned by family after rape sparks outcryPHOENIX — Lured by promises of chewing gum then allegedly raped in a shed by four boys barely older than her, an 8-year-old Liberian girl is now in foster care and living with strangers after being shunned by her family. The alleged sexual assault in Phoenix and reaction by her family have sparked an international outcry, reaching all the way to the president of Liberia, the home country of the girl's family and the four young suspects.

July 18th, 2009 Sex offender convicted in 1975 Girl Scout murderNASHVILLE, Tenn. — A jury has convicted an imprisoned sex offender of murder in the 1975 strangulation death of a Girl Scout in Tennessee.

June 18th, 2009 Md. mom indicted for killing, freezing 2 daughtersROCKVILLE, Md. — A Maryland woman has been indicted on charges of killing two adopted daughters and storing their bodies in her freezer.