Schoolboy, 12, raped and sexually assaulted nine-year-old girl after watching hardcore internet pornography

Schoolboy was copying acts he had watched online, court hears

• Lawyers claim many other similar cases may go unreported

A 12-year-old schoolboy raped and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl after watching hardcore internet pornography, a court heard today.
The boy, now aged 14, was spared a jail sentence after a judge heard he was 'emulating' adult acts he had seen online.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that the case could be 'the tip of the iceberg' and many other similar cases may never be reported to police.

Attack: The boy, now aged 14, had unrestricted access to the internet and had watched the sex acts online (picture posed by model)

The boy’s defence counsel Sean Templeton said: 'There is a real risk that young people of the current generation of teenagers are growing up with a skewed view of what sex is and sexual activity.'
The child had unrestricted access to the internet and was able to look at explicit material.
The Daily Mail has led a campaign calling for online porn to be blocked to prevent children accessing it. People would still be able to 'opt in' so they could view adult images.

 

Mr Templeton said it was a great concern that children may be getting their sex education through internet pornography.

Decision: Lady Smith opted not to jail the boy and sent him to a a children¿s panel where he can be kept under continuing supervision

He said that during a police interview the child was asked why he had done it and his answer was 'temptation'.
'This was an emulation of an adult act witnessed by him at this young age,' said the defence counsel.
'He was afforded unfettered access to the internet and it has become apparent from a very young age, the age of 12, he was accessing hardcore pornography,' he said.
He said it appeared such material was discussed in his first year at secondary school and Parliament was currently discussing how to protect young people from getting access to such images.
'This is the tip of the iceberg. Many, many cases throughout the country may not be identified, not reported, not coming to anyone’s attention,' said the defence counsel.
Mr Templeton said that the boy had identified the websites he visited to police and his lawyers carried out an investigation.
'The behaviour witnessed was reminiscent of the acts carried out by him,' he added.
Lady Smith told the teenager she was sending him to a children’s panel where he can be kept under continuing supervision.

She told the boy he must behave and that he was being given an opportunity to 'make something of yourself'.

Sentencing: The boy, 12, was spared a jail term when he appeared before Edinburgh's High Court

She added that it was a chance for him to put his mistakes behind him and to think carefully of what it was like for the girl and 'what she is living with because of that wrongdoing'.
The judge told him: 'You should not and must not regard pornography as any guide at all as to how to behave sexually.'
'You should not have engaged in sexual activity of any sort with a nine-year-old girl or indeed any other young girl who, under our law, is not able to consent to it,' said Lady Smith.
The judge pointed out that he had admitted offences under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
She said that while the behaviour was very wrong and needed to be addressed, she would 'venture to suggest' that prior to that legislation coming into force it would not have brought him to the High Court.
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had earlier admitted rape and sexual assault committed between December 1 2010 and January 31 in 2011 at a Scottish island community.
Advocate depute Jane Farquharson said the offences came to light after the girl had been complaining of having a sore stomach and would not accept her mother’s explanations for what might be wrong.

Campaign: The Daily Mail has led calls for online porn to be blocked automatically

She eventually asked if her problem could be caused because she was about to have a baby.
Her mother asked her if something had happened to her and she became hysterical before revealing what the boy had done.

A friend of the 12-year-old boy had seen the sex act being carried out.
The victim's mother had said in a statement that she would like the boy to get help.
Mr Templeton argued that there were benefits in sending the case to the children’s panel as it would allow supervision to continue until he was 18.
He said: 'The hope obviously is the behaviour can be addressed in order that he can go on to have a normal adult life with normal relationships with other adults.'
The case was heard in a closed courtroom with only relatives of the accused, care workers and members of the press in the public benches.
Helen Goodman, Labour's Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, said it was a terrible case.
She has joined the Daily Mail's call for an automatic block on internet porn.
She told MailOnline: 'This is a very sad story with terrible consequences. We have rules about what children and young people can see at the cinema, to protect them.
'We need to reproduce these rules online to avoid this sort of risk.'