17-year-old boy admits brutally raping 10-year-old girl as she walked home from school
DEVON, ENGLAND — A teenage boy admitted to violently raping a 10-year-old girl in an attack carried out on October 4 in Devon.
The accused was 16 at the time of the attack and was charged with attempted murder, rape, and choking with the intention to commit rape as well as a host of less-serious charges.
After the defendant was cleared of attempted murder during his trial earlier this year, the jury remained undecided on the rape charges against him.
To arrive at a decision regarding those charges, the 17-year-old boy was scheduled to face retrial for the same incident, starting Monday.
However, on the very first day of his retrial, he pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
"Following a full police investigation, the suspect who was 16 years of age at the time of the offence and cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged in connection to this incident; he pled guilty to lesser charges of to strangle or choke with intent to sexually assault and digital penetration of a child under 13," a statement from the Devon and Cornwall Police said, reported Mirror.
"A trial was held in Bristol last March in relation to the more serious charges of attempted murder, rape, and choking with intention to commit rape took place."
"The jury found the suspect not guilty to the charge of attempted murder, but were unable to reach a majority decision in relation to the charge of rape, and choking with intention to commit rape. Today [July 22] was the first day of the retrial in relation to the charge of rape; this morning the suspect pled guilty to this charge," the statement added.
As a result, the police said that the accused teenager was supposed to remain in custody. He was going to be sentenced for the charges he pled guilty to as well as the offense of strangle or choke with intent, at Bristol Crown Court on Nov. 7, 2019.
The statement also reminded the public that the "victim has anonymity for life and should not be named, and neither should the suspect who remains under 18 years of age; these rules are not solely for media organizations to adhere to, they also apply to everyone of us, and includes all information posted via social media."