Boy faces court due to care sex acts

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has faced court after he had sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old in a Townsville residential care home.

The boy who cannot be identified pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent treatment of a child in the Townsville Childrens Court on Wednesday and was found guilty of unlawful carnal knowledge in a judge only trial last year.

He was sentenced to 12 months probation for the offences he committed when he was 13 years old.

Crown Prosecutor Siobhan Harrison said the defendant and victim engaged in consensual sexual intercourse while residing in a residential care home in 2019 and there was no violence or struggle.

The court heard the boy later simulated sex on the 12year-old girl, touching and grabbing her and telling her not to tell anyone.

Ms Harrison said the victim was upset and did not tell anyone until the boy grabbed her by the wrist and again simulated sex on her.

The court heard the girl grabbed the boy by the neck and “smashed his head into the wall” before she ran outside and told a care worker what happened. The girl was placed in another care home before a complaint was made to police.

The boy’s barrister, Kelly Stone, said his client had suffered a troubled childhood and was put in the state’s care at 11.

Mr Stone said the boy had smoked cannabis since the age of 11 and had “cut back” but still occasionally smoked.

He said the boy had “not had the benefit of a good education” or a good upbringing.

In sentencing, Judge John Coker described the offending as “serious” and considered the boy’s troubled mental health and disrupted childhood.

He sentenced the boy to one order of 12 months probation for the four offences.