Girl, eight, admits she was not raped by boy

From Times Online May 13, 2010

Girl, eight, admits she was not raped by boy
(Julia Quenzler/Central News)
The eight-year-old girl two boys are alleged to have raped

Steve Bird

An eight-year-old girl who claimed to have been raped by two 10-year-old boys told a court today that the attack never happened.

She said that she had told the story because she was worried about getting into trouble with her mother for being a “tiny bit naughty”. She also feared that she would not be given sweets if her mother knew that the three of them had been showing each other their genitals.

The prosecution claims that the boys raped the girl last October in a park in Hayes, West London, after taking her to a block of flats and holding her captive in a bin shed.

Giving evidence via a video link to the Old Bailey, the girl said during cross-examination that neither boy had dragged her to a secluded spot, pulled down her underwear or raped her. Instead she agreed with Linda Strudwick, defending the older boy, that she feared getting in trouble and so told her mother that they had pulled down her underwear, rather than that she had done so herself. She agreed that she had wanted to be with the boys in the bin shed because they were having fun and giggling.


The girl, sitting in an annexe to the court, sometimes patted her hands together, stroked her hair or drank from a bottle of blackcurrant juice as she gave evidence. Ms Strudwick asked: “You told your mum that the boys took your knickers down because you didn’t want your mum to know that you had been naughty. Is that right?”

The girl replied: “Yes.” She then agreed that she had not been “dragged” anywhere and had not been raped by either boy.

Asked whether she had wanted to be with the boys, she replied: “I kind of did.” Asked what she was worried about, she said: “No sweeties.”

Ms Strudwick asked whether she had been naughty and she said “only a tiny bit” but she could not remember how.

Earlier, the child was taken on a virtual tour of her estate through a series of computer graphics. She identified the third floor stairwell, bin sheds and park where the prosecution claim she was sexually attacked. She agreed that her bruising and scratches could have been caused when one of the boys helped her over a fence into the park.

She yawned occasionally and often replied that she could not remember the exact details of what had happened.

At the start of her evidence she was asked questions designed to put her at her ease. She smiled as she said that she did not like school, in part because she sat next to a “naughty boy”. She had recently had a hearing aid fitted and occasionally got “muddled up” over what she heard.

After she had finished her evidence the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, noted that she appeared exhausted and thanked her, adding: “No one is suggesting you have done anything wrong. I am the judge. I know when people have done something wrong. You have not done anything wrong. Remember that.”

The two boys, one of whom is now 11, watched proceedings from the well of the court sitting between their mothers and solicitors. Neither the barristers nor the judge wore gowns or wigs.

The jury of six men and six women heard that the girl was taken to hospital with stomach pains but did not have any injuries to her genitals. She did have a number of scratches and grazes.

Both boys deny rape and attempted rape. The trial continues.

I find it quite worrying that this 8 year-old was so sexually aware that she could describe what those boys might have done to her. Maybe it's just me and I am just recalling what I was aware of at age 8, but this does worry me somewhat. Is it what youngsters are watching on TV these days and seeing in films they can watch at home that are not age-appropriate or their having access to the internet and what they can find there?

AnnaEsse wrote:I find it quite worrying that this 8 year-old was so sexually aware that she could describe what those boys might have done to her. Maybe it's just me and I am just recalling what I was aware of at age 8, but this does worry me somewhat. Is it what youngsters are watching on TV these days and seeing in films they can watch at home that are not age-appropriate or their having access to the internet and what they can find there?

I found it very strange too. I have a 7 year old and he wouldnt have a clue what sex is about never mind rape. Its very very worrying that this kid could go into detail about it.

My 8 year old, would have no idea at all. It makes you wonder the kind of family life she has.

Not just me then!

I had a quite shocking experience recently at a secondary school I was working at. A girl pointed out an unopened condom under a table in a classroom. Before I could get it disposed of one of the girls in the room (year 8. Around 12 years old) picked it up and put it in her bag. I went and asked another teacher if I should do anything about this and she told me that free condoms were available for all pupils from year 7 from the school nurse, no questions asked.

Now, I may be an old fuddy-duddy, but I really don't think that 11 year-olds should have free condoms on demand with no one questioning the facts of 11 year-olds being sexually active.

AnnaEsse wrote:Not just me then!

I had a quite shocking experience recently at a secondary school I was working at. A girl pointed out an unopened condom under a table in a classroom. Before I could get it disposed of one of the girls in the room (year 8. Around 12 years old) picked it up and put it in her bag. I went and asked another teacher if I should do anything about this and she told me that free condoms were available for all pupils from year 7 from the school nurse, no questions asked.

Now, I may be an old fuddy-duddy, but I really don't think that 11 year-olds should have free condoms on demand with no one questioning the facts of 11 year-olds being sexually active.

Holy mother of God. Is it any wonder kids are so sexually active at such a young age if the schools are giving them condoms free of charge.
They are obviously going to experiment if they are being given these condoms.