4 boys freed on conditions in alleged sex assault

Four of five youths accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl have been released on conditions while their charges are before the court.

Five youths between 12 and 16 made their first court appearances earlier this week, each charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm in connection with an incident reported to police on Feb. 22.

All five returned to Regina youth court on Thursday, when the Crown consented to the release of four of the youths. Only one, a 15-year-old boy, remains in custody while an electronic monitoring report is prepared. That youth returns to court on March 5 while the others come back on April 1.

Two of the youths — aged 12 and 13 — are also accused of making and distributing child pornography, and are alleged to have filmed part of the incident.

Lawyers have come on board to defend the youths. The four released Thursday must obey a range of conditions, including that they not contact the girl or each other, not possess cellphones and not use or possess intoxicating substances.

Police have released very few details about the alleged incident.

According to information provided in a brief email from a Regina Police Service spokesperson, police launched an investigation when officers were called to the hospital on Feb. 22 for a report that a female youth had been sexually assaulted. Information received from the girl and through the investigation led to the arrests of the five boys over the next two days.

Two of the boys are aged 15 and the others are aged 12, 13 and 16. The girl’s age has not been released, but she is said to be in her early teens. None of the youths can be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.