JONESBORO — Four Arkansas men have been sentenced to county jail time after pleading guilty to separately sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
The Jonesboro Sun reported that each man pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault this week. They were sentenced to 120 days in jail and will have to register as sex offenders.
A Craighead County prosecutor says the rape charges were reduced after a discussion with the victim and her mom. The mother told prosecutors she didn't want her child to have to testify in multiple trials.
The four men are 16 to 27 years old and were arrested in 2013 after the mother found sexually explicit text messages on the girl's cellphone. Charges of computer child pornography against the men were also dropped.