CLEVELAND, Ohio - Witnesses told police that they saw three children brutally attack a 5-year-old girl last month, corroborating statements from the victim's mother who said her daughter was gang-raped in a field, according to a newly released police report.
On Thursday, Cleveland police released the report of the Sept. 13 incident, which drew national attention on social media after the victim's mother posted details about the incident and photos of her daughter in a hospital.
In that post, she said three children aged 8, 9 and 10 brutally attacked, tortured and sexually assaulted her daughter, who had been diagnosed with autism.
The police report is heavily redacted, but it notes at least three witnesses told investigators they saw children assaulting the victim. Police recovered physical evidence, such as a rape kit, one of the victim's braids that had been torn from her scalp and some of the victim's clothing.
The report also mentions "video evidence" but does not say what the video shows.
Police confirmed earlier this week that they were investigating a crime involving a victim and several suspects under the age of 10. The police report confirms the victim was 5, but it does not mention the ages of the suspects.
At 4:23 p.m. on Sept. 13, Cleveland police responded to the 1000 block of 145th Street for a missing child report.
When police arrived, they spoke to a woman who had been babysitting the victim since roughly 2 p.m.
Several juveniles told investigators a young girl had led the victim to a field on East 148th Street behind the Collinwood Athletic Complex before striking her in the face with a rock, strangling her and undressing her, according to the incident report.
The juveniles then led authorities to the field where they had discovered the victim naked and lying in a fetal position. The victim had bruising and swelling on her face, according to the police report.
EMS transported the victim to University Hospitals Rainbow Pediatrics.
Another witness told investigators that she saw three youths walking with the victim in the East 148th Street area before beating the girl, ripping out her hair and urinating on her, according to the incident report.
A third witness said he saw a girl assaulting the victim, but no details from that person's account are listed in the report.
It is unclear from the report why the witnesses did not stop the attack.
"These kids broke my daughter's spirit," the girl's mother said in the post. "They took away her boundaries."
The girl's mother said she had left her daughter with a relative while she went to a doctor's appointment.
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to the child's mother, seeking to speak with her.
Lexi Bauer, a spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley's office, said prosecutors are aware of the allegations.
In cases involving juvenile defendants, charges are referred directly to the county prosecutor's office. Once police submit their investigative results, prosecutors will review the findings, Bauer said.
It is rare for authorities to charge young children with heinous crimes. But in 2018, prosecutors accused a 10-year-old boy of killing his stepmother, Shavonne Willis. He was found delinquent and placed in custody until his 21st birthday, according to published reports.