Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer said the pre-dawn sweep of Rowan Towers was planned before the girl's attack. He said police hope the arrests will lead to tips that help them find those who assaulted the girl, otherwise the arrests were unrelated to the case.
"This is only the beginning," Palmer said. "We're not going to rest until that area is cleaned up so that decent people can live without the threat of fear and violence."
Police said the young victim's 15-year-old stepsister sold the girl to have sex with as many as seven men and boys at a party in a vacant apartment.
According to police, the teen told her sister to "let the boys do what they want."
While the mayor says the arrests are unrelated, police hope they lead to tips that help them find the suspects.
The stepsister is charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. No other arrests directly related to the case have been made.
The encounters allegedly happened inside the Rowan Towers Apartments Sunday afternoon. The teen was said to have willingly engaged in sex with multiple men for cash herself.
"I think everyone, not just in Trenton, in New Jersey but across this nation and the world is shocked, outraged and horrified by the barbaric act of monster pervert rapists and what happened to an innocent angel," Mayor Doug Palmer said.
"They said they would kill her if she screamed. It's crazy," one resident said.
"We do believe that the 7-year-old was held against her will by the individuals, and that's when sexual assault took place," Trenton Police Department Capt. Joe Juniak said.
Police said they have DNA evidence, some surveillance video and leads but need to zero in on exactly who was in the apartment. They said they anticipate making multiple arrests of both juvenile and adult males.
Many of those arrested Thursday were women, who told The Associated Press the warrants were for minor infractions. Police did not immediately return calls for further details.
Residents said the assault was clearly at the forefront of police officers' agenda during the raid at the apartment building, a high-rise complex so dangerous that police are hired as security guards at night.
Tair Rivers, 27, said officers yelled, "What happened to the little girl?" as they arrested her and other women. Rivers was arrested for outstanding parking tickets, she said.
Rivers lives in 13-H, an apartment right across from 13-C where the party occurred. She said she was not home over the weekend but would not hesitate to tell police if she knew something.
"We all got kids," Rivers said. "If we knew something, we would tell."
Police believe as many as a dozen people were at the party and say everyone in the apartment when the rape occurred could be legally culpable. There were security cameras at the complex and police said they were reviewing all available building surveillance videos.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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