Boy, 10, charged with rape

[Mugu]

By Randy Ludlow, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

10-year-old Marion County boy has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial on delinquency counts of rape and gross sexual imposition.

Marion County officials declined to provide details about the case, but a Prospect-area woman says the boy molested her 4- and 6-year-old sons last summer.

The woman is upset that the 10-year-old continues to attend the same Prospect school, South Elgin Elementary, as her 6-year-old first-grader.

"I'm furious, but my hands are tied," the woman said yesterday. She considered enrolling her son at another school, but he begged to stay at South Elgin with his friends and teacher, she said.


Complete article at:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/01/Marion.ART_ART_04-01-08_B1_4L9Q50Q.html?sid=101

[Ordr]

1. Holy fucking shit.

Sue his parents, sue the school, get him the fuck out of there.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

20. To where?

To another school to do it to someone else? I dont disagree with you this situation is so mind boggling that I dont know what should be done..

[Ordr]

22. I really don't know where.

You're right. At that age you can't just lock him up in a psychiatric hospital...but it seems ridiculous that he's allowed back in the school.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

23. Yea I guess in my coma of diselief

I completely forgot the option of in home education (sometimes provided by certain school districts for kids with disabilities)... This Kid should not be *anywhere* near other kids right now..

[Ordr]

24. Good call. A private tutor would allow him to continue his education

while preventing more possible assaults.
Hopefully he'll "grow out" of whatever prompted his actions.

[Cant trust em]

2. charged?

Can't we just get this kid some counselling or something?

[Kitty Herder]

5. That's what I was thinking. nt

[BattyDem]

3. 10???

What would possess a 10 year old to rape someone? :shrug: Does anyone else think this kid may have been a victim of rape himself?



edited: skipped a word :blush:

[undeterred]

16. I think he probably was.

I had some friends who became foster parents to a six year old boy. He had two younger brothers. All 3 boys had been sexually abused by their father, who went to prison. The mother lost custody because she knew about it, but did nothing.

The boy went for visits with his younger brothers and initiated sexual contact with them. No amount of talking to him did any good. He was in therapy by age 9 and was trying the same thing with classmates. The social workers warned the parents that the child was very likely to become a sex offender. The foster father decided he could not handle this, because people would assume that he was the one who had molested the child.

The foster mother decided to adopt the child and divorce her husband. It was a heartbreaking situation.

[BattyDem]

19. "The mother lost custody because she knew about it, but did nothing."

:wow:

How could you stand by and let your own child be molested?! :grr: :cry:

What a sad situation. The foster mother sounds like a strong, wonderful woman ... though I completely understand why the foster father couldn't handle the boy's problems. What a nightmare! I hope the boy and his brothers get the help they need.

You're right ... it's a heartbreaking situation. :-(

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

21. You know thats *really* hard

"The foster mother decided to adopt the child and divorce her husband. It was a heartbreaking situation."

My wife and I have talked about adoption but in the back of my mind is this nagging worry that the kid will be messed up and do something to my wife or daughters when they get bigger... I hope, for the mothers sake, the father was not right in being concerned..

[last1standing]

4. The link doesn't make it very clear but it doesn't really sound like rape to me.

I'm sure this is going to get me flamed but the news account makes it sound more like a game of "doctor" than rape. If that interpretation is correct then I'd suggest that this was nothing more than children exploring their bodies as all children do. The fact that the 10yo is apparently somewhat mentally retarded could explain the age gap.

Of course if coercion was involved then that changes things but it just doesn't sound that way from the story.

Feel free to call me a monster and a pedophile now. :)

:hide:

[BlooInBloo]

6. (munches popcorn)

[ozu]

8. yeah

Without details of the case, I'm inclined to believe that this is closer to inappropriate 'fondling' than actual rape*.

He needs counseling obv.

*I'll now brace myself for the inevitable taunts of diminishing the pain these 4 and 6 year old have gone through.

[Cant trust em]

9. Thank you for stating my position more articulately than I did

I think I "raped" my cousin when I was 8 and she was 6.

[last1standing]

10. You're welcome.

Really, it's possible that this was a case of rape, but the story doesn't back up that allegation. It only points to the father's account that a little boy was "inappropriately" touching a little girl. By that standard nearly every kid on my block could have been found guilty of rape as we all played around with each other when we were little. It was our exploration of our differences and the fact that our parents were always telling us how wrong it was just made it more taboo and interesting. We all grew out of it long before hitting puberty but the little boy in this story doesn't sound that mentally advanced.

Still, without real facts, prejudging this child is cruel.

[Cant trust em]

11. last1standing, you are wise.

It helps that you agree with me.

[last1standing]

13. LOL! That always helps doesn't it?

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. What on earth is that 10 year old...

still doing in school??? The child is clearly both a victim and a perpetrator who does not need to be around other children at this time, expecially since he appears to have some sort of inability to be responsible for his actions. That is just fucking crazy.

[Lance_Boyle]

12. Clearly a victim? Thanks Dr. Frist.

Counseling seems appropriate. Rape charges, not so much.

[Bucky]

14. If the charge is true, of course, the 10 year old is certainly a victim of sexual abuse too

10 year olds don't just take up molestation out of curiosity. It's a specific, boundary-violating behavior that must be modeled to them first.

[noonwitch]

25. Or he got hold of some graphic porn

People are not always careful about keeping that crap out of the kiddies' hands. Kids get ideas.

There are treatment programs for offenders that young, that also address the child's own victimization. Some are really good, like at Golden Valley in Minneapolis.

[LeftishBrit]

15. Sounds awful, but more needs to be known

It *could* be that a relatively mild case of "I'll show you mine and you show me yours" has resulted in an over-reaction.

If the charges are true, then the 10-year-old's background needs to be thoroughly investigated, for his own sake and that of others. Sexual abuse by such a young child would very likely mean that he has been sexually abused himself.

[Xithras]

17. Sounds like he's getting treatment.

I hate to chime in against the "he must have been molested too" bunch, but there have also been a few studies now showing that the exposure neccesary to get a child sexually curious can come from TV. With the high sexual content inherent in many modern TV shows, it's possible that the kid was just acting out behaviors, or acting on curiosity, picked up from a TV show.

The kid should have never been charged, because at that age he had no concept of what he was doing, or why some people would consider it wrong. Sexual curiosity during childhood is fairly normal, and the vast majority of kids play "lookie, touchie" with each other at some point during their childhood. There's a little bit more of an age gap here than you'd typically see, but that's probably due to his mental handicap.

[aikoaiko]

18. I would think the 10-year old should be out of school until things get sorted out.

An 8 foot no-go zone in the restraining order is a fuckin joke.


In truth,its difficult to tell from the article what happened, the 10-year old's motivations, and the impact it had on the younger students.