Parents arrested in Liberian rape case

The girl's 59-year-old father and 47-year-old mother each face eight counts for a series of abuse and neglect incidents dating back to 2005.

"Situations where the girl was wandering late at night, where she had signs of physical abuse, where she had been physically abused," Phoenix Police Sergeant Andy Hill said of what they found. "There were a number of incidents and they included a variety of things."

After the alleged rape, detectives took a good look at previous reports of child abuse in the home, according to authorities.

"For us, as a police department, it is our duty just to investigate, present the facts as we know them," Hill said. "What happens with those facts, that's up to the prosecuting authority and a jury to decide."

KTAR is not naming the parents to avoid identifying their daughter, who police say is a rape victim.

A Phoenix police spokesman says the parents were arrested Friday without incident.

Police submitted their investigation of the parents to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in August. Arrest warrants were issued earlier Friday.

The girl was placed in protective custody after police say she was gang-raped in July by four Liberian boys who lured her to a storage shed with the promise of chewing gum.

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