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The mother was
visiting friends in the town of Vernal, about 175 miles east of
Salt Lake City, the Uintah County Sheriff's Office said in a
statement on Sunday. The mother was not officially identified.
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.
RonDeau has been charged with first degree rape and sodomy of a
child and is slated to appear in court on Tuesday, Uintah County
Attorney G. Mark Thomas told Reuters by phone on Monday.
The three others - Josiah RonDeau, 20, Jerry Flatlip, 29, and
Randall Flatlip, 26 - have been arrested and Thomas expects to
file formal charges in the coming days.
The men could not be immediately reached on Monday for comment
and it was not clear if they had obtained legal representation.
The child was not hospitalized after the attack and has been
taken into protective government custody, Thomas said. The
mother has not been arrested.
"As with any crime against a child, we take them very
seriously," Thomas said.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sara
Catania and David Gregorio)
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