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

[OtepotiLilliane42]

This is horrific, and I found it hard to read, especially the part where "the boy’s mother told the court he was “doing really well” and hoped her family could one day reconcile.

“We just want to make things right and do what's best for the safety of the children,” she added.

“My daughter used to be very sad about it all because she worried this was her fault, but she’s come on leaps and bounds, she’s a very strong girl and there’s not an ounce of sadness in her now, I’m so proud of her.” (My emphasis).

Pertinent questions for me are why this boy was permitted to play an R18 game unsupervised, and why his sister could not tell her parents what was going on, but felt that what was happening to was her fault! At age 6!

And shouldn't a 12 year old know, without being told, that what he did
to his sister was dreadfully wrong? At least it seems as if the boy and his sister are getting the therapy they both need, but it's a story that makes one despair at how even young girls will feel responsible for male behaviour.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rape-boy-sister-gta-sex-scene-swindon-court-a8799261.html

I don’t think ubiquitous online porn/games are the sole reason for male violence

Neither do I. That's not at all what I've said. I think the confusion might be that you've created a strawman to argue against? I think we're actually arguing quite similar points.

I agree that the judge and legal profession have a lot to answer for here in allowing this as any kind of defence. At 12 and at 6 there can be no doubt that the safety of these children lay with the parents. Now the 12 year old has transitioned into a person who has committed the darkest of acts, he cannot be trusted ever again. He willl be more dangerous at 18 and at 30 and a lifetime of policing will be needed to protect society from him (unlikely this will happen).
A little girl is the victim here, she has a life sentence which will probably go unsupported as well.
I think this bolstered my argument about adult who are complicit in the abuse of children being held responsible. No one can say that the parents were at the very least not taking care of their children when this happened. I might not be in the room with my children every minute of the day but I know what they are doing and I know when the mood changes. Yes this boys deserves blame and punishment but maybe a sentence for the parents who encourage other parents to actually supervise, support and kno their children. It’s a drum I bang all the time.

Poor girl

This happened to me, back in the 80s long before GTA and online porn.

I'm a research student now, currently studying families where this kind of abuse occurs. There are a number of known risk factors for it. As pp have said, it's often down to lack of supervision and generally a sign of dysfunction in the parental unit being passed down.

In my case a lot of it was down to sex discrimination - my father is a ragining mysoginist (so is my mother actually) and my brother was always the boy king.

My father was a bit of a sex pest himself, but my mother was almost Victorian in her prudishness, and those two extremes are risk factors as well.

Throw in some alcohol abuse and a mother who is so scarred by her own chilldhood experiences she can't be emotionally available to her children and voila, the perfect storm.

That's not to say all those factors are there in every case. But that's how it happened to me.

My parents STILL claim it can't have been that bad or I must be mental and a million other things. Luckily I don't see them anymore so I don't have to listen to it.

And - exactly as others have said - the full extent of the damage didn't manifest until my 30s. These parents have no idea how this little girl is going to affected long-term.

The mother hopes for the boy to live in the family home? So the little girl will have to live under the same roof as her rapist?

Everything seems so centred around the rapist, his victim just expected to put on a brave face and go along with what 's best for the boy. No wonder she thinks it's her fault.

I love GTA, but there is no way a child should be playing it!! It’s not as if there isn’t a shortage of video games that are age appropriate out there, and very good to boot. If there is a crucial discussion to be had around video games (and around screen time in general) is how often are we using tech to babysit our children?

I mean I have the odd off day and I’ll park my little one in front of something when I’m sick. However what children are most in need of is quality engagement with their caregivers to learn appropriate socialisation.

Although I’m an avid gamer my son (6) has only been allowed a little video gaming, and from a monitored and curated list. It’s also something I do with him more than something to keep him occupied because I can’t be bothered. I think that’s the real problem here.

To turn this problem on its head video games CAN be used as a positive force. I was playing a toys to life game with my son and evidently some other “cool” boy at his school had been spouting nonsense about girls. I had just so happened to have selected a female character which my son asked why had I done that as “girls aren’t as good”. So obviously I was able to have a conversation with him to get to the bottom of it and correct it.

mamoon I was commenting on the post above not yours. I don’t tend to engage in internet whataboutery and straw men so I would not do that, I just felt the point was getting lost in picking at specifics rather than the general sense.

swings I am so sorry you’ve had this happen. It’s appalling and there are no words. I don’t understand the level of denial a parent has to be in to try and hand wave this stuff away. I’m glad you don’t have to listen to it anymore

GoldenWonderwall my bad. Apologies for misunderstanding.