Rapists under 14 in the News

Abstract

Following abolition in September 1993 of the common law presumption that a boy aged under 14 years is incapable of sexual intercourse, there were twelve prosecutions of boys aged 10 to under 14 years for rape and just two convictions (of which one was overturned on appeal) in 1993 and 1994. This study identifies and discusses newspaper reports of such cases coming to court in the period 1993 to 1995. It is suggested that the law change has not been helpful in dealing with serious sexual offences among this age group. In particular, victims are unlikely to have benefited. Confronting the reality that boys aged 10 to 13 years can indeed rape opens the window to another set of realities which also need to be confronted.