Two schoolboys in Britain, who raped a 10-year-old girl, escaped being sent to jail because of their young age.
The Newport Crown Court in South Wales heard that the boys, aged 12 and 13, carried out the sex attack on the girl while playing on an Xbox console, the Daily Mail reported.
The girl kept it a secret for four months until her mother caught her playing a game of dare with the same boys in a woodland.
Judge Ian Murphy said: “Her parents have described their daughter as an empty shell and say her innocence was taken away from her.”
The court heard that the two boys were playmates with the girl who lived nearby. They had been kicking a ball around when the weather became cold and the three friends then went inside to play computer games on an Xbox.
But the older boy encouraged his younger friend to have sex with the girl and he later joined in, the court heard.
The boys, now both 14, denied rape but were found guilty at a trial last month.
A judge ordered the boys to be electronically tagged for three months and put them under a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.
“This is a very serious offence. Had you been adults you would have been looking at a lengthy custodial sentence. You were very young at the time and used to play football with the little girl,” the judge was quoted as telling the boys.
“You betrayed your friendship and you engaged in impulsive sexual exploration. No force was used but she was only a little girl of 10,” the judge added.
The two boys will attend a sexual offences programme and go on the sex offenders’ register for two-and-a-half years, the court ordered.