- The boy is accused of raping his younger victims on “multiple occasions”
- Charges have been filed through the Mercer County juvenile probation system.
Police in Pennsylvania have charged an 11-year-old boy with allegedly spending nearly three years sexually assaulting two much younger boys.
Mercer County State Police launched a rape investigation after receiving an “allegation of sexual abuse” against the boy who lives in rural Otter Creek Township outside Greenville.
The boy repeatedly assaulted a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl “on multiple occasions” in the city from early April 2021 to December 2023, police believe.
Both victims live in Akron, Ohio, more than 70 miles southeast of the boy’s home in Pennsylvania, and it is unclear if they have moved there since the alleged abuse occurred.
Police believe the two young victims endured 32 months of abuse (file photo)
“Upon completion of this investigation, the actor was accused of sexually assaulting two other minor victims between the named dates at the named location on multiple occasions,” a Pennsylvania State Police report said.
“Charges have been filed against the actor through the Mercer County juvenile probation system.”
Research estimates that more than half of child sexual abuse crimes in the United States are committed by perpetrators under the age of 18.
But a 2020 study published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse found that child perpetrators often have different motivations for abuse than adult offenders and tend to respond more favorably to treatment.
Mercer County State Police launched a rape investigation after receiving an “allegation of sexual abuse” against the boy who lives in rural Otter Creek Township outside Greenville.
