Boys aged FIVE are quizzed over rape
Shocking rise in sex offences by pre-teen children 200 under-tens accused of crimes, including girls as young as six NSPCC blames relentless rise of online porn
TWO five-year-old boys have been investigated by police over alleged rapes of other children.
The boys were contacted by officers in Thames Valley Police last year following reports of sexual assaults on the other youngsters.
But no action could be taken against them as they are deemed too young to know right from wrong, and the suspected rapes were not added to crime figures.
Details of the cases are not clear but the boys’ parents would have been contacted and police may also have asked social workers to help.
The alleged sex attacks emerged in official figures uncovered by The Mail on Sunday. The shocking statistics also reveal that a six-year-old girl has also been reported to police over suspected sex offences, as have boys aged just four.
Police have investigated more than 200 reports of sexual activity and assault by children under ten
‘Degrading material is a few clicks away’
years old in recent years. Last night experts warned that some of the young offenders may have been acting out obscene material they had seen on the internet at home or on mobile phones in the school playground. A fiveyear-old boy was suspected of possessing pornographic images, the figures show.
‘Exposure to extreme, sometimes sexually violent and degrading material is now only a few clicks away,’ says Jon Brown of the NSPCC. ‘This can warp youngster’s views of what is normal and acceptable sexual behaviour, how they treat others and how they expect to be treated.
‘We know that technology and easy access to sexual material is affecting young people’s views of what is “normal” or acceptable behaviour.’
Children aged nine or younger cannot be prosecuted in England and Wales as they are below the age of criminal responsibility. But if police are told that a child has committed an offence, officers will still investigate and many forces still record the incidents in crime logs.
The alleged crime will remain undetected, with ‘no further action’ officially taken against the suspect.
However, forces will refer serious cases to social services as well as interviewing the victim and perpetrator, and their parents.
For the first time, new ‘restorative justice’ and ‘community resolution’ schemes are being used to deal with very young offenders. These can involve children meeting their victims to say sorry for what they have done. Chief Superintendent Lee Bruckshaw, of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘Only in the most serious and extreme cases would such a young person be brought into a police station. Instead, if we identify that a person responsible for a crime is under the age of ten we will work closely with the parents or guardians to address the cause of the offending, rather than criminalising the individual.’
Figures obtained by this newspa- per using Freedom of Information laws reveal that 16 of the 43 forces in England and Wales have recorded under tens as suspects for alleged sex crimes between 2011 and 2013.
In total 235 children have been identified as suspects.
The highest numbers were seen in Thames Valley, which covers Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The force recorded 28 alleged rapes and 76 other sex offences allegedly committed by under tens, although its figures covered five years from 2009 to 2013.
Last year two five-year-old boys were suspected of rape, although these reports were later logged as ‘crime related incidents’ rather than crimes. This could mean the alleged victims did not provide full details to police or another force took over the case. The identical entries on the police spreadsheet simply state: ‘Crime related incident. Rape’ then ‘M’ for male suspect and ‘5’ for age at the time of the alleged offence. They do not make clear if the incidents were related.
A six-year-old girl was also suspected of rape by the force in 2009, and another girl of the same age was reported for ‘non-rape sexual offences’ in 2013. Under a change to the law a decade ago, rape can now be carried out by males or females and can include penetration with a finger or object of the body of someone who does not, or cannot, consent.
Separate records show that in 2012-13, a four-year-old in High Wycombe was reported for ‘sexual assault on a male child under 13’ and another child of the same age was reported for ‘sexual activity involving a child under 13’. Thames Valley was unable to provide further details of the offences but said that all allegations were investigated fully and other agencies such as social services would be notified if necessary.
In Sussex, a five-year-old boy was recorded as possessing ‘obscene publications and protected sexual material’, and an eight-year-old boy suspected of ‘familial sex offences’.
Jim Gamble, a child safety expert, said: ‘I’m not surprised but it’s still shocking when children become involved in these sorts of offences.’
He said they are becoming sexualised ever earlier by seeing adult material on TV, on the internet and smart phones. As a result, parents must have important discussions with them about sex at younger ages. ‘Some don’t want their children to hear that but there’s a real need for early education.’