Trenton, April 01: Police have arrested a 15-year-old girl they say prostituted herself and her seven-year-old stepsister to have sex with as many as seven men and boys at a weekend party near their home in a crime-plagued neighbourhood.
Trenton police Capt Joseph Juniak said on Wednesday that the older girl started by taking money to have sex with several men at the party in a high-rise apartment. The teen then gave some of the money she had collected to the younger girl to let the men start touching her, Juniak said.
The child later put on her clothes and two strangers walked the crying girl home while her sister stayed behind. She was treated at a hospital.
The teen is charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age.
Police believe as many as a dozen people were at the party. They are trying to track down the men and boys who attended and are reviewing building surveillance videos.
Police said the girls were outside Sunday afternoon in the neighbourhood when the 15-year-old ran into two young men she knew who invited her to a party at the apartment. Rather than leave the 7-year-old behind, the teen took her along.
At the party, the 15-year-old starting having sex with several of the men for money and then gave the younger girl some cash to let a group of men touch her, Juniak said. He would not say how much money was exchanged.
“It went from touching to straight out assault and rape,” Juniak said. “They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone.”
The girls’ parents reported them missing late Sunday afternoon. Police had just arrived at the home when the seven-year-old returned, Juniak said.
The apartment building where the assault took place, Rowan Towers, sits in the shadow of the Statehouse and is well-known to police, who are hired by the building to handle security at night from 5 pm to 3 am.
-PTI