Boy, 12, raped six-year-old sister ‘to recreate Grand Theft Auto scene’, court told

But it does seem as if this boy was allowed a lot of unsupervised access to quite unsuitable material which prompted his 'experimentation' on his sister.

I think that's the main thing really, if he's playing games rated way above his age group, and has access to porn, his parents are clearly not supervising or setting limits in any way.

A friend of mine talks about being in a games store and hearing parents boasting about their kid being "clever enough" to play 18 rated games. And going on other conversations I've been involved in myself, I think there's still this mistaken idea that games are only for children and are therefore all suitable at all ages.

I think as well that people are too reliant on technology to shield their kids from the harmful stuff that can be found online. Assuming ISPs will block the awful stuff.

The key is always going to be education, both for the parents and the kids.

GTA is a vile game. DS who is in y6 has a classmate who according to DS, ‘is obsessed’ with it, plus Call Of Duty and other violent delights which I’ve never heard of.

While GTA does not necessarily a rapist make, you’d still have to be off your rocker to allow your young DC anywhere near it, and pornography should go without saying. I’ve got every parental control going slapped on DS’s devices and I spot check them regularly, they aren’t 100%, so as parents we all have to be on it all the time.

Whatever has been going on in this family is clearly very disturbing, and seriously damaging for that poor little girl. I don’t believe for a second that ‘she doesn’t have one ounce of sadness in her.’ That simply doesn’t sound feasible, or healthy. Sounds to me like she’s been encouraged to repress her feelings, which will cause her massive problems in the long term. I certainly wouldn’t be letting that boy back into my house if it was me.

One of the reasons I left my ExH is because when we caught his son watching violent porn at 11 years old, he just shrugged and did fuck all. Said I was being hysterical. His son was also violent and played inappropriate video games.

I just could not be married to someone who parented that way.

I really hope the boy is never allowed to return to the family home. Absolutely fucking ridiculous for the mother to think that.

I take it that those who are posting that it's 'tosh' that it is perfectly possible to play GTA without going on the violent (including sexually violent) missions have never actually played it, and are unaware that the most notorious missions need to be specifically modded on?

This boy was (according to the same source) watching porn extensively, and was unregulated online.

I really don't see why GTA is in the headline, other than to attract clicks and froth. Which is a pity, as this is a dreadful case no the headline is detracting from the real issues. Which isn't a need to demonise a particular game, but to look at the total effect of all his screen activity and why permitting unsupervised screentime is considered so normal.

Mercifully it is rare that it is formative of RL action. But role of screen violence in desensitising is well known (used by groups as diverse as the US military and ISIS) and so it (probably) is a n important part of a perfect storm. The other elements of that storm should not be overlooked in the rush to damn GTA

It is indeed silly for me to assume that most men, particularly the one I know quite well, isn't a rapist 🙄 Jesus Christ.

Interesting that the media is focusing on the game rather than the porn..

So somehow the thing to blame is a game which doesn't (as far as I'm aware) show any explicit sex acts, rather than the thing that absolutely shows sex acts - and often violent and degrading ones at that.

Almost like they're more invested in minimising the impact porn has on boys and men who watch it.

That's a pretty silly question, don't you think? No sillier than you assuming that just because your brother hasn't raped you, he hasn't raped anyone. Neither of us know if he has or hasn't. And please spare me the nonsense - as if the only rapists are the convicted ones. If that were the case, we would hardly have to worry about rape at all.

I don't see porn as a big problem personally. Well, good for you? You're not bothered by rape and abuse and the systematic dehumanisation of women and children. So happy for you. Hopefully you are at least able to see that other people are bothered, with good reason. There's quite a lot of evidence to suggest that dehumanisation and objectification are factors in violence and abuse. They certainly seem to be factors in this case.

When I told my stepson mother that he had sexually abused my children, I was met with 'Oh, it must be because of those computer games he plays' - she meant GTA. The games that stepson was catagorically not allowed to play at my house.

As for the 'not an ounce of sadness' bollocks.. . Well that astounds me. My daughter is now ten and has such lasting psychological damage that I fear she'll never recover.

The language used by the boy ("special bundles") made me wonder if he has been the victim of sexual assault also

Sorry for typos

@mammoon That's a pretty silly question, don't you think? I think it's fair to assume a man isn't a rapist unless he's convicted of rape or if there has any other indication to indicate he's a rapist.

Early age, hmm probably around 3 or 4. No, of course not, obviously kidding, of course it's at the age of puberty, where most preteens get interested in anything of a sexual nature.

I don't see porn as a big problem personally. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I'd have a talk with my kids that porn is porn and it doesn't represent real sex, which isn't so difficult to differentiate.

But anyway, I do not think porn causes rape. In that case, most men (and a whole lot of women) would be rapists lol.

I do think there's a problem with the family, the way they reacted to their daughter's situation. They seem to be in denial. I agree it's not good parenting to allow your kids to play a game that's outside of the recommended age. But in all, I would also try to see if the boy had been abused as well, as often children of abuse are the ones who abuse other children.

I felt very angry for on the little girls behalf while reading about this horrific crime.

Blaming the game the parents have placed him firmly as the victim.

There’s not an ounce of sadness in her Well that’s ok then, we don’t need to worry about the actual victim of a horrific crime, she’s fine, so we can just focus on the poor boy.
Not one person from the court to the family have centred this female child who has suffered greatly as a result of the people around her.

You agree with everything viking said. The games is a smoke screen so everyone can move along nicely with a reason. There is without a doubt serious problems in that home.

Poor poor girl

I’m very suspicious of anyone who minimises the potential effect of these sorts of things. There are some things where you don’t wait for concrete evidence, in order to protect the ones you love

I'm.more suspicious of judges who allow this as an excuse and let the perps walk free tbh.

It's too convenient and is a get out clause.

And no I don't let my kids watch age inappropriate stuff. But rapey fairy tails arent any better are they?

5,500 sexual assaults in schools, including 600 rapes reported to the police over 3 years, according to a BBC investigation. This doesn’t include the unreported cases and incidents outside school. This isn’t an isolated case. It is a societal problem.

I'm amazed the girl hasn't been removed from her parents care.
They need serious parenting lessons.

I can’t believe people are making statements like, ‘ Well I watched violent computer games with sexual content and pornography from an early age and I haven’t raped anyone, so there’s other stuff going on in this family and it’s nothing to do with the computer games or porn.’ Did you actually think before you posted such tosh? We aren’t robots. Different people react in different ways. Your experience doesn’t prove anything. You’d have to look at a decent sample size to come to any firm outcomes.

I think many people have their head in the sand because they know that their children use the internet unsupervised for significant periods watching goodness knows what, with either no parental controls, or poor ones that the kids probably know how to get around. Thousands of children, mostly girls are sexually assaulted in schools and there is a terrifyingly high number of rapes too (I need to check the exact numbers). We may not be able to say there is a direct relationship to these types of computer games and porn (I don’t know whether there is or there isn’, I haven’t looked at the evidence, but what I have heard advises caution) but that isn’t to say there aren’t less serious negative effects.

I’m very suspicious of anyone who minimises the potential effect of these sorts of things. There are some things where you don’t wait for concrete evidence, in order to protect the ones you love.

I’ve played GTA 5 fairly comprehensively. I’ve not encountered any scenes of rape or even anything sexually explicit. For the child to have learnt about this from the game it would suggested to me that his version was modded as suggested by a PP.

It’s one thing allowing a 12 yo to play what is clearly an adult game (18 rated) but to allow the modifications is really quite disturbing.

This case is so heartbreaking. That poor little girl. Her parents have let her down so badly. It's hard to escape the conclusion that no one cares about girls. They are treated as disposable objects for males to use and discard.

My brother has always played GTA and watched porn from an early age, as have I, and he has not gone and raped me or anyone else.

This is disturbing. What do you mean by an early age? And how do you know he hasn't raped anyone?

Porn is absolutely vile. It is the filmed rape and abuse of women and girls. It is not "watching people have sex" - it is watching women being beaten, choked, spat on, anally, vaginally and orally raped, often by multiple penises and other instruments. Sorry to be so graphic but let's be real about it. It does cause massive harm and no one should be watching it - least of all children.

When I read the mother's comments about there not being an ounce of sadness in her now it just made me think "well there's a woman in denial". You don't get raped by anyone at six years old, never mind your own brother, and just shrug it off and keep playing with your dolls. It sounds like a woman who desperately wants her family to go back to "normal" without realising the harm she's doing to her younger child by minimising what her brother did to her. You have to wonder what kind of pressure that little girl is under to appear ok and protect her mum's feelings.

Interesting how they blame the game. Yes it has sexual content but the child not only had access to that but also pornography which is far more graphic. GTA is an adult game hence the age rating, but I know plenty of children that play it and manage not to rape anyone. Much, much deeper issues here, with just another excuse for the media to blame gaming as a cause.

The parents sound messed up from that little interview. Poor, poor little girl.

I often think mothers are the worst in this scenario, because obviously they love both of their children and want to protect both, unfortunately it's at the expense of the abused child.

A friend of mine was also abused by her brother and always resented her mother for ignoring it.

Letting your kid watch shite online or on the telly is almost always an indication of generally crap parenting and not bringing up your kid properly. So while it might not be a direct consequence of playing a particular game, obviously the parents have done a piss poor job of bringing up this child (also shown by their attitude afterwards as well).

There's not an ounce of sadness in the girl? I have a family member who was sexually abused by a relative. They managed to distance themselves from it for many years, but it resurfaced eventually. This mother wants to bring the boy back into the home it appears. Poor little girl.

A clear case of consecutivity not being causation.

Boy committed rape after cheese sandwich, etc.