Liberia's deputy ambassador to the U.S. said 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.
Deputy Ambassador Edwin Sele said that the girl, a Liberian refugee, cried heavily during their meeting Saturday and that she needs to be reunited with her family because she feels being kept away from them is a punishment.
"I talked with her and I took her a teddy bear," he said. "She was very distressed, she's really traumatized. . . . She cried so bitterly that I almost cried."
Phoenix police allege that four boys, all Liberian refugees ages 9 to 14, lured the girl to a storage shed July 16, then restrained and raped her.
