The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office has announced that a 10-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy are facing serious charges, including attempted murder and rape.
In Cleveland, two children have been indicted by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office after being accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old in a field located near East 148th Street and St. Clair Avenue. The alleged incident took place last month.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, the charges against the 10-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy include several felonies:
- One count of attempted murder
- Four counts of rape
- Two counts of felonious assault
- One count of kidnapping
- One count of strangulation
“We are currently in the process of gathering information and evidence,” stated the prosecutor’s office. “Due to the sensitive nature of this case, we are not releasing further details and will refrain from additional comments at this time.”
CONTENT WARNING: The following story contains graphic and disturbing content. Viewer discretion is advised.
CASE BACKGROUND
A police report obtained by 3News last week reveals that on the afternoon of September 13, Cleveland police officers were dispatched to a residence in the 1000 block of East 145th Street in Collinwood. A caller reported that while babysitting a 5-year-old girl, the child had disappeared.
According to a police report obtained by 3News last week, on the afternoon of Sept. 13, Cleveland officers responded to a home in the 1000 block of East 145th Street in Collinwood. A caller reported she was babysitting a 5-year-old girl, but the girl had gone missing.
The police report is heavily redacted, but it states the 5-year-old was found in the fetal position in a field less than a quarter-mile away from the residence. A witness told the responding officer that they saw three juveniles take the 5-year-old girl to the field and attack her.
It’s unclear who picked up the girl from the field, but she was transported to the hospital by EMS for emergency care. The police report states she had bruising and swelling to her face.
Investigators later found evidence and the girl’s clothing in the field, and according to the police report, video evidence and Ring camera footage were also recovered. The report does not state whether any witnesses intervened or attempted to stop the attack.
The report lists the offenses in this case as sexual battery, kidnapping, felonious assault, strangulation, assault and rape.
“We’re actively investigating it. Our detectives are working to resolve it,” said Cleveland Division of Police Sergeant Freddy Diaz. “It is a very sensitive investigation at this point. We don’t have much information to release.”
We also spoke to Antavia Kennibrew, the mother of the 5-year-old who was attacked. She says she’s still processing the pain that was inflicted on her daughter.
“She’s been affected mentally and physically by what was done with her, so just seeing how much she changed is hard,” Kennibrew told 3News. “Like, what was done to her was inhumane, so it made me think like there was no more human decency left.”
Kennibrew also said she hopes the people who hear her daughter’s story will learn the importance of paying attention.
“If you see anything and it doesn’t look right to you, say something about it, because that could have stopped what happened to my daughter if somebody spoke up and … stopped (it),” she added.
LEGAL ANALYSIS
Case Western Reserve University law professor Michael Benza says Ohio law doesn’t set a strict minimum age for prosecution, but cases involving children this young are extremely rare.
“We generally don’t prosecute people below a certain age and that’s usually between the 12, 13, tween age, is when we start to see children being prosecuted,” Benza said.
Benza says one major challenge will be determining whether the children are competent to stand trial.
“How are they going to understand what’s going on in the courtroom? How are they going to help their lawyers? They’re nine, that’s going to be really difficult to prosecute and go forward,” he said.
The professor described this as an outlier case, saying the state’s juvenile system isn’t designed to handle children this young facing such serious allegations.
“That’s why these types of cases don’t happen very often, but once they do it creates this very type of tension: ‘well, we don’t even know how to do this,’” Benza said.
He added that the case could also lead to civil lawsuits filed by the victim’s family.
“There certainly could be issues of civil liability — that is, the family of the child could bring a civil lawsuit against the defending children and their parents,” Benza said.
Both children are expected to appear in juvenile court in the coming weeks. Because of their age, all proceedings will remain closed to the public.
