Child raped in Utah as mother smoked drugs

Four men have been arrested on charges of raping a 9-year-old girl in a Utah home on Easter Sunday as her mother smoked methamphetamine in the garage, authorities said.

The mother was visiting friends in the town of Vernal, about 280km east of Salt Lake City, the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Investigators said that, as the child slept on a couch, the mother went into the garage and began smoking meth.

The girl was taken to another room and raped by four men, according to the statement.

Sheriff deputies took a report of the rape on March 29 and arrested Larson RonDeau, 36, that day, the office said. The three others were arrested between March 31 and April 1.

Mr RonDeau was charged with first degree rape and sodomy of a child and is due in court on Tuesday.

“As with any crime against a child, we take them very seriously,” Uintah County Attorney G Mark Thomas said.

The three others — Josiah RonDeau, 20, Jerry Flatlip, 29, and Randall Flatlip, 26 — have been arrested and Mr Thomas expects to file formal charges soon.

The child was not hospitalised after the attack and has been taken into protective government custody, Mr Thomas said.

The mother has not been arrested.