8 year old raped by 4 boys 9,10,13 and 14

So four obviously damaged individuals have now created a fifth one.  This is so sad.

I'd be interested to hear what the boys' families are saying about this.  If they, like the little girl's family, blame the victim, what are the chances that these boys will see what they did as wrong?

There is a lot of confusion around what the father said.

A Phoenix pastor says statements made by the family of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who allegedly was raped by four boys were a terrible mistake that resulted from a communication problem.

Pastor James Nyemah says the girl's father was told by a doctor that she was OK after a medical examination.

While the doctor meant the girl was doing fine psychologically, Nyemah says her father took the doctor's words to mean that she hadn't been assaulted.

Nyemah says the father later told police and childcare workers that he didn't want the daughter back out of frustration with hearing a doctor say she was OK and investigators saying she had been brutally raped.

Child Protective Services took custody of the girl after police say her parents claimed she had shamed the family and didn't want her.

That father will have to wait at least three months before possibly regaining custody of his daugher.

He met with Child Protective Services earlier in the week.

His daughter was taken into state custody after officials said they heard the victim's parents blame her and didn't want her anymore.

The father denies saying the girl brought shame to the family.

The family's pastor, who accompanied him to the meeting, said it will be 90 days until CPS officials reassess the situation. No arrangements for visitation have been made.

Quote:

Nyemah says the father later told police and childcare workers that he didn't want the daughter back out of frustration with hearing a doctor say she was OK and investigators saying she had been brutally raped.

Huh?

Two adult officials disagree, and I'm frustrated, so I DON'T WANT MY CHILD ANYMORE.

Do you know how long the boys have been in the U.S.? I have worked with recent immigrants and the hyper-liberal sexual culture is the major message that males get when they arrive in North America.

Also, do you think that there is no porn in Africa, no Internet access?

BTW. the fact that they are Liberian refugees goes a long way in explaining the "misunderstanding" that had the media blaming the victim's family. Part of the general hatefest about how "those people treat their women."

martin dufresne wrote:

BTW. the fact that they are Liberian refugees goes a long way in explaining the "misunderstanding" that had the media blaming the victim's family. Part of the general hatefest about how "those people treat their women."

Total bullshit. I saw the (teenage or early twenties) sister of the victim on TV and she was quite clearly blaming her for the horrible abuse she suffered and demanding that the accused be let out of prison and insisting that they did nothing wrong. Her English was fine. There was no room for nuance or misinterpretation. The family of an 8 year old rape victim disowned her for bringing shame on teh family. By being brutally raped. These sick bastards should never be let anywhere near this child again.

Well, if Rush Limbaugh would condemn people who blame 8 year olds for being raped, then I guess no decent person should hold that position!!

Social workers run into those patriarchy-sanctioned attitudes all the time - partially thanks to defense hired gun experts and media reports who keep quoting Freud, Underwager, Gardner and other child victim blamers - and not just with refugee families. Calling them "sick bastards" is unacceptable in my book.

martin dufresne wrote:

Isn't it a bit convenient - and a reversal - to call rapists "obviously damaged", especially in a culture where rape is promoted to youths as (adult) entertainment?

Hi Martin,

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "convenient" and "reversal".  I did not intend the use of the word "damaged" to imply any rationalization, justification or sympathty for the boys' behavior.  But I can't come up with a better term.  Any suggestions?

martin dufresne wrote:

Why qualify them at all? I find that any qualifier adds another level than that of their criminal responsibility, which can be "convenient" for a system that refuses to take rape seriously, as a fully willed gesture. And I wrote "reversal" because it should be obvious who the damaged party is.

Thank you for the clarification.  I use a qualifier I suppose because I'd like to think there's still hope for them.  And because I try to understand why people do the things they do.  Again, no intention to justify, rationalize or forgive; simply to understand.

And I apologize if you felt I was diminishing the victim's experience by grouping all parties using the same qualifier.  I can see now how that could be misconstrued.

I don't see how acknowledging that children have to be held to a different standard of culpability - and I totally agree, as does the Bloc vs. thre 3 other parties - is equivalent to presuming that offenders are necessarily "damaged".

Sadly, sexual assault by minors is, in our culture, a lot more prevalent than people think it is. Talk to daycare, kindergarten and primary school personnel if you don't believe me; thay have to pull male kids off girls on a regular basis. And this is not counting the psychological harrassment. 

And, as I wrote earlier, this behaviour is validated, indeed taught and reinforced through orgasms, by the sex industry via pornography. I do have hope for male kids; indeed, I feel that calling them damaged is more of an indictment than acknowledging their agency and ability to do better.

They do not think or react in the exact same way as those strange "rational adults" which seem to inhabit the rest of this world.

How I wish this were true... Not the exact same way, but much too close for comfort!