Five boys accused of sexually assaulting teen girl

Five boys between the ages of 12 and 16 are in custody in Regina, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

The five appeared at Regina youth court earlier this week, at which time the Crown opposed their release from custody. They each asked for help from a lawyer and all were set over to Thursday. It’s possible bail hearings will be held at that time.

Each of the youths is facing a charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm in relation to an alleged incident from Feb. 22. Two youths are also charged with making and distributing child pornography, accused of filming part of the incident. Two of the boys are aged 15 and the others are aged 12, 13 and 16. The girl’s age has not been provided, but she is said to be in her early teens.

None of the boys can be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The Regina Police Service provided very few details, stating only that the investigation began when city police were called to the hospital on Feb. 22, having received a report that a female youth had been sexually assaulted. Using information from the girl and through investigation, police arrested and charged the five boys over the next two days.

They made their first court appearances on Monday.

“Due to the ages of those involved and the extremely sensitive nature of the offences, no further details will be released,” police said in a statement.