The search continues for more possible victims of three young boys charged with rape.
"It is still part of the investigation to determine how many suspects there are and we are looking into possibly more victims," Battle Creek Detective Sgt. Todd Elliottt said Tuesday.
Three boys, ages 11, 12 and 13, were arrested Thursday after police were told by two brothers, ages six and eight, that they were repeatedly sexually assaulted for at least a month.
The suspects made initial appearances in Calhoun County Juvenile Court on Friday and are being held in the county's juvenile home.
The investigation began June 12 after the mother of the two youngest boys noticed a change in their behavior and they disclosed what had happened, Elliott said.
"The mother noticed the kids acting differently and she started asking questions," Elliott said.
The mother called police about seven hours after police and firefighters were called at 11:52 a.m. that day to 41 S. Wabash Ave. for a fire in garage adjacent to a vacant house.
Investigators began an arson investigation after questioning several young boys who told officers they were smoking marijuana and dropped a cigarette on a mattress in the garage. When they attempted to extinguish a fire, they told police they grabbed a bucket, thinking the liquid was water, but discovered it was gasoline after throwing it on the mattress fire.
Elliott said police are not releasing many of the details of the alleged rapes and are conducting parallel investigations trying to determine if the fire was an arson to destroy evidence of the sexual assaults.
"We are still trying to determine if that was a scene," he said. "We are still investigating if the fire was intentional and if it was tied to the alleged sexual assaults."
He told reporters that all of the young boys involved live in the same neighborhood and have an acquaintance of some kind.
He said the young boys have undergone forensic interviews about the sexual assaults.
"The boys are safe," he said. "It was a very traumatic incident to go through but they are safe and in good hands right now."
Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson
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