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Steven Tuopeh 14, and 3 Other Young Boys, Rape an 8 Year Old Girl
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by Amy Judd | July 22, 2009 at 05:46 pm
2535 views | 17 Recommendations | 14 comments
Four young boys, including one named suspect Steven Tuopeh, are suspected of raping an eight-year-old girl in Phoenix, Arizona last Thursday at about 5:15pm local time. The boys, one as young as nine, lured the girl into a storage shed by offering her some gum.
The girl was then restrained while the four suspects, ages 9, 10, 13, and 14, sexually assaulted her. All the suspects, except one, reside with their families in the same apartment complex.
About 15 minutes after the girl was lured into the storage shed, at 5.31 p.m. local time, Phoenix police officers responded to an emergency radio call of an "unknown trouble" with a young girl screaming hysterically as she ran out of a storage shed partially clothed. Several boys were seen running away from the area while one suspect, Steven Tuopeh, was caught by officers at the scene.
All four suspects have been arrested after being identified by witnesses and the victim has been removed from her home by Child Protective Services, as dectectives said her parents blamed the girl for being victimized and "bringing shame to their family".
Steven Tuopeh, 14-years-old, is the only suspect to be identified and he has been detained at the juvenile corrections center on two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. The other suspects have not been identified, but they are also detained at the same correctional center. The nine-year-old has been charged with one count of sexual assault, the ten-year-old with two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping and the thirteen-year-old has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping.
All four suspects were interviewed and have admitted planning and involvement in the sexual assault of the young girl. In addition to the statements by the suspects and independent witnesses, physical and medical evidence developed probable cause for the arrests and detention of the four suspects.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (14)
at 21:28 on July 22nd, 2009
Christ what the hell is going on, this is got to be related to parental control its very bizarre the girls own parents blamed her for getting assaulted how damn shameful. At a guess its the 14 year old that created a gang of younger children and influence them into doing this sexual assault on the girl.
Parents should take care about their kids playing with a much older child, most kids that play with much younger kids can not get on with children their own age or want to boss and bully the younger children which at a guess happen in this incident.
I feel sorry for the little girl she did not deserve this and she deserves much better caring parents.
at 15:26 on July 23rd, 2009
I agree, I cannot imagine the parents of the victim actually blaming her for what happened; that's a whole lifetime of hurt that they are creating for her, as if it isn't bad enough already.
at 16:56 on July 24th, 2009
i am sorry to say i know this kid he gose to school with me
his in my 7th grade class
well i am gonna go to 8th
but i have seen him around
some times i talked to him
but when i saw the news i didnt pay any attention because there are alot of people who look like one another
an i was like why wouls steven do that to a 8 year old girl anyways
and now that i was lookin throught my 7th grade yearbook i find him and it hit me because of his last name
i was shocked when i read this
i still am
at 10:40 on July 24th, 2009
I was reading this story on the BET websites and the girl is from Africa and it explained that in some parts of that culture the parents will blame the child because it brings shame to thefamily. check out the link it explains it better, But I have to say this is just horrific this poor child, and what in the world have these young boys seen that make them think this was acceptable
http://www.bet.com/News/News_Crime_Four_Boys_In_Arizona_Charged_In_Girl_Rape.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B0471DDF0-D0D8-48A8-9E30-ADD40CBE0269%7D
at 16:47 on July 24th, 2009
Sad to say
i know this kid
he gose to cordova with me
i was shocked when this was in the news
the first thing i did was look up hi pic from the year book and then
the internet news
an i was like wow its steven from my history an art class
i was shocked
at 21:34 on July 22nd, 2009
I am saddened to read this one. I have to tell you I have been watching T V with my nine
year old grandson and either I have become an "old lady" with no sense of humor or we need
to riot over the scripts these kids are watching and laughing about. It is stupid and promotes
trickster behavior; lying ..disrespect...grossly over acting and no acts of sincere
kindness. Watch the stupid show Hannah Montana. I looked at my grandson and said , "this
is not funny...this is teaching you to be dishonest and that it is clever and fun". This business
of harming someone for entertainment is at the root of some of their plots. It is disgusting.
It is sick comedy that they see.
Now, Pokemon is another story! It is great.
The boys behavior will be looked at and show that there were all sorts of red flags ..ya got
your ring leader and two needy ones that will "go along" in order to be accepted. There
is no capacity for empathy of a human being here. It's a type of thrill that is much like
addictions. They may already be on the spiral path downward. What can parents do?
I took my grandson fishing to a local "ditch".. We were soon no longer alone. A man in
a truck pulled down to the stream beside us. I quickly called him and told him to come
quickly and get in the car. Of course he was confused. While in the car driving away I
had to fumble for the right words to explain safety etc. I took him then to a public lake
where several people were all around. A child has to be indoctrinated about "criminals"
safe places and how to say no...etc. One wonders what they lured her into the place
with. It is so hard to train a child these days ladies and gentlemen...they lose some of
their innocence when they are taught to be aware of "devils"...............( I do not use
the word of course)...that can appear in unlikely places.
at 09:30 on July 23rd, 2009
sad. Sad that it happened, even sadder that her parents blame her. A stigma for life. the parents need counseling. they need to be reprimanded for child neglect, disgusting.
at 13:14 on July 23rd, 2009
In some cases it is even worse because of the ignorance and mental problems of the parent.
If one could look deeper she may have been wearing the " look" of "I'm not strong" to
predators like this....they won't pick on gals that have confidence...this is all ...generally
speaking... A counselor once told me a predator can spot one they can cajole and lure away
in seconds...
Children need to have classes very early on body language and empowerment. As a girl
scout leader we taught the power of words that can literally weaken one's muscles even if
they knew it was not true and the strength they had when they were encouraged. Parents
are failing big time but they too were failed so it repeats until someone breaks this legacy by
going thru serious help.
at 21:40 on July 23rd, 2009
YES, it is a SHAME (beyond that!) that this sort of thing happens; I agree that kids need to be supervised and should NOT be allowed to "hang" with older kids because they lose their innocence much more quickly. It's bad enough as it is, hanging with your own age-group... We need more MATURE grown-ups that are willing to mentor these young ones.
You have to understand that this story is not telling you everything. The Liberian culture (or what have you) of these girl's parents makes them ashamed of what happened to her, even though it's not her fault. I can't understand it, but maybe this girl will be better off with people that can get her help and make her understand that it is NOT her fault that this happened. Poor baby. I can't imagine the pain she's going through... I'll keep her in prayer.
at 01:12 on July 24th, 2009
The worst part to me is that other sources are blaming her West African culture for the parents reaction. They are afraid to use the word Muslim. The whole idea of bringing shame on the family is not about being African, it is about being Muslim. We should be able to see the right and wrong practices in religion and talk about them freely. Here, they are just afraid to talk about Muslims in a negative sense.
at 07:36 on July 25th, 2009
I am not afraid to use the word Muslim. This is typical Muslim behavior. If the girl ends up murdered, it will not surprise me. "Honor" killings have been happening in the Muslim community for a long time, which is one of many reasons why the world would be much better off without this death cult.
at 10:42 on July 24th, 2009
I was reading this story on the BET websites and the girl is from Africa and it explained that in some parts of that culture the parents will blame the child because it brings shame to thefamily. check out the link it explains it better, But I have to say this is just horrific this poor child, and what in the world have these young boys seen that make them think this was acceptable
http://www.bet.com/News/News_Crime_Four_Boys_In_Arizona_Charged_In_Girl_Rape.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B0471DDF0-D0D8-48A8-9E30-ADD40CBE0269%7D
at 12:21 on August 16th, 2009
we whent to school togeter and steven was always picked on because he talked weird and were he was from....
at 15:13 on September 1st, 2009
It's a lowdown dirty shame that this boy became a rapist! A career criminal Frankenstien! His childhood is over, and so is his adult life, as he could be given a sentense as long as Sherman Burnett Jr. was given, if not longer!