A 12-year-old boy who raped a young child will be sentenced after failing to convince a court he was wrongly convicted.

The boy - who cannot be named - was found guilty of rape and attempted rape at the end of a judge-only trial in the Children's Court at Townsville earlier this year.

During the trial, the court was told the boy raped a four-year-old boy in May 2007, and tried to rape his own three-year-old brother a short time later.

The boy told his father he had raped the child because he was "horny", it was revealed at the trial.

Under Queensland law anyone under 14 years cannot be held criminally responsible for an offence unless it can be shown they had the capacity to know they ought not have done the act.

The trial judge found the boy did have the capacity to know he should not have committed the offences.

The boy's lawyers took the case to the Court of Appeal in Brisbane in May in an attempt to have the conviction quashed.

They argued that the guilty verdict was "unreasonable" and "against the weight of the evidence".

They also argued the trial judge gave insufficient weight to the evidence of a psychiatrist called by the defence.

The Court of Appeal in Brisbane on Friday dismissed the application, finding that the trial judge correctly ruled the boy knew that what he was doing was wrong.

The boy will now be sentenced for the two sexual offences.

wow. what makes a kid that young that messed up?

article

Jesus. That's fucked up.

Acting out sexually like that usually means he might have been molested at an earlier age or up to the time of his arrest. Sad!

Yeah he is hope he gets help

I wouldn't doubt that this boy has been molested. No child at this age should even know HOW to rape someone, must less someone of his own sex. I also wouldn't doubt that he has been exposed to porn, if he says he got "horny".

I'm not denying the possibility of prior molestation, but I also know that a lot of kids nowadays are being exposed to sex, drugs and violence at a very early age, through either the media, or their own circle of friends. I can't count how many times I've overheard 10 year olds at the mall talking about sex or weed, and using the slang terms for everything, too.

That's true. I just don't believe t.v. or video games could have brought on that behavior or we would have a whole lot more kids doing this kind of thing.

That is so sick. I wonder if he was ever sexually abused?

i'd be willing to bet he was. i don't think behaviours like this randomly manifest in kids.

Surely he's been sexually abused himself.

I think that's very sad. Chances are he didn't even realise what he was doing was wrong... as it very much sounds as if he was just doing something which has been done to him in the past. Even the part about him saying he was horny.

I do hope they can find out who hurt him.

Not EVERYONE who rapes has gotten raped. I don't think the 12 year old boy was abused in any kind of way considering he told the court he was just "horny". He's a disgusting little boy who DESERVES to be locked up.

uh, do you know how abused children behave? some think what their abuser is doing is "normal" and so they exhibit the behaviour themselves. i would be surprised if this boy hasn't been abused. he didn't tell the court he was horny, he told his father.

he does deserve punishment for the horrible things he did, but that doesn't mean his mind wasn't warped by someone.

HIS ABUSER MAY TELL HIM THAT HE'S HORNY WHEN HE ABUSES HIM, SO HE MAY JUST BE MIRRORING WHAT HE'S LEARNT.

While I agree with this, it doesn't make it right. However, he may not have been abused.

He clearly knew what he was doing, and while I believe he needs help to get over any abuse he may have suffered he also needs to be punished for the wrong he has done. I cannot even imagine the pain these two young boys are going to face growing up. I hope they get counseling as well.

I DIDN'T SAY IT MADE IT RIGHT, YO, NOR THAT HE HAD DEFINITELY BEEN ABUSED. BUT BEAR IN MIND THAT 12-YEAR-OLDS' BRAINS ARE NOT FULLY DEVELOPED AND THEY DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS. RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THIS AWARENESS DOES NOT FULLY DEVELOP UNTIL ADULTHOOD. FURTHERMORE, CHILDHOOD ABUSE HAS PERMANENT EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN. CLEARLY THE 12-YEAR-OLD COULD BENEFIT FROM SOME COUNSELLING TOO.

THE YOUNG BOYS WILL DOUBTLESS GET COUNSELLING, BECAUSE IT'S IN THE PUBLIC EYE - AND GOOD COUNSELLING WILL DIMINISH THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEM CONTINUING THE CYCLE AND ABUSING OTHERS. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE IS ABUSED BUT RECEIVES NO FORM OF HELP OR COUNSELLING IS THAT, IN THEIR CHILDHOOD, THEY ARE UNABLE TO PROCESS IT OR EVEN REALLY RECOGNISE IT AS ABUSE. IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT THIS IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE 12-YEAR-OLD BOY. SUCH THINGS ARE RARELY BLACK AND WHITE, YO. SOMETIMES A SITUATION IS FUCKED UP FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED.

No one said that everyone who rapes has been raped themselves.

We just said that from the little information provided it sounded highly likely that this particular boy has been sexually abused himself. And it's just as likely that his abuser told him he was doing it because he felt horny, and that is why he repeating the same thing (I see Puck has already said this though).

I really can't see why a 12 year old boy would do such a disgusting thing unless he had had some experience of it himself.

You're correct. Not everyone who rapes has been raped. And while some men who rape do it because they are power hungry assholes, you will find that the majority of people who rape have been the victim of some form of abuse in their life. Not all, but the majority.

And when it comes to a 12 year old boy, you can pretty much guarantee he was abused in some form. Whether it was sexual abuse or not, I'd be willing to bet money he has been abused in some way. A 12 year old shouldn't even know what horny means. And even then, the first thought in a horny 12 year old's mind should not be about forcing someone else. This boy has either been victim of or witness to sexual acts he should not have had any part of.

I totally agree with what the majority of people are saying that it is HIGHLY likely that this boy has encountered sexual abuse himself. At the very least witnessed sexual behaviour between others. I'm sure this would have been considered during his questionning and trial and as somebody else mentioned, I hope they get to the bottom of what he may have gone through. It is very very unlikely that a 12 year old would behave this way without having encountered inappropriate sexual behaviour himself.
As other people have pointed out to Bella, children who have been abused WILL make comments such as being "horny" as this is learnt behaviour and they don't see why this is inappropriate or wrong. Children who have been abused WILL display inappropriate sexual touch towards others and feel confused about why this isn't seen by others as "nice" or "right". It's a really sad story. The 12 year old certainly needs consequences but "locked up" isn't necessarily the greatest response. A stable, containing placement in a setting specifically FOR children who abuse other children is what this child needs.

Or a psychiatric ward..

Hmmm, no I don't think psychiatric ward. Personal opinion.

:P

i agree. well put.

wow i can't even begin to have words for that...

Well put, but idk. Call me insensitive, but i cant even force myself to feel bad for anyone who rapes anything. Idc if he's 12. He raped a little boy, no matter which way you cut the shit cake it's still fucked up.