Arkansas Men Brutally Rape 6-Year-Old, Give Her Multiple Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Two men in Arkansas admitted to raping a 6-year-old girl after a hospital found she was suffering from multiple sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The men, identified as 27-year-old Demarcus George and his 33-year-old co-defendant Mario Waters, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of the minor, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas said in a statement.

George entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller on Nov. 10, while Waters pleaded guilty earlier this month, according to the statement.

The men were linked to the crime after the minor victim was taken to Arkansas Children's Hospital in February 2018 due to symptoms that were later determined to be caused by several sexually transmitted diseases, prosecutors said.

"Doctors at Arkansas Children’s Hospital determined that it was unlikely the child had obtained each sexually transmitted disease from the same offender and that there were likely multiple offenders," the statement read.

An interview with the girl conducted by an FBI forensic interviewer revealed that the child had been raped by George and Waters in a hotel room. The victim was able to recall that the room had a curtain in the middle of the space and a picture was hanging on a wall, prompting authorities to search for the room.

Law enforcement, acting on the available information, located a hotel in Arkansas' capital of Little Rock that matched the description the victim provided.

The minor's unnamed mother had rented a room at the hotel in March 2018 and paid for it with a credit card, financial records showed. The victim has since been removed from her mother’s custody.

Officers later obtained search warrants for George and Waters' blood and urine. The results indicated that both men tested positive for the STDs that the victim had contracted.

It was unclear how authorities were able to track down the two men.

George and Waters later admitted in court that they had sexual contact with the victim and were involved in trafficking her with others.

The guilty pleas effectively canceled the men’s upcoming jury trial, which was initially scheduled to begin Monday.

"These guilty pleas will spare the young victim from having to relive her experience on the witness stand at a trial," Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross was quoted as saying.

The judge will sentence George and Waters at a later date. They both face life imprisonment and a minimum of five years of supervised release for their charges.