4th Graders In West Philadelphia Charged With Attempted Rape (VIDEO)

Three 10-and-11-year-olds turned themselves into the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit Tuesday, and have been each charged with attempted rape and indecent sexual assault, WPVI reports.

The victim was an 8-year-old male classmate, whom the three allegedly attacked in a bathroom at West Philadelphia's Bryant Elementary School.

Capt. John Darby told the Associated Press the three boys were charged as juveniles and have been taken into police custody.

"I felt helpless," the victim's mother told WPVI. "It took him almost 7 hours to try to tell me what happened."

During the police investigation, school officials ordered all students travel to the restroom in pairs, and a school counselor met with every class to discuss inappropriate behavior, according to Philly.com.

Since the incident, the victim has been transfered to another school.

Comments

[Claire53]

11:50 AM on 12/01/2011

Interesting to note that the commentators here have failed to question exactly what is meant by the phrase "attempted rape and indecent sexual assault." We know what it means amongst adults, but when it comes to kids I question the use of this language without further explication. I have read many news stories about children's behavior that accuse kids of sexual abuse when their behavior does not fit the accusation. I prefer to hear more details before I buy the charge made.

[dino504]

07:21 PM on 11/30/2011

I cant believe this. If something like this happened to my young son, I truly think I would have a hard time controlling my temper around these other kids' parents. Because at that age, those kids were either sexually abused themselves, or got it from watching inappropriate shows on tv or porn on the internet. Truly disturbing to hear for anyone that loves their kids.

[Nancy Q]

06:37 PM on 11/30/2011

The human race is basically an "animal" race. It's behavior depicts that.

[kencrn419]

06:40 AM on 12/02/2011

Some are more animal than others.

[doylegang1]

02:55 PM on 11/30/2011

HufPo, it is pretty rediculous that you can't get the pending comments posted. I have never complained about it before, but it is certainly getting more obvious.

[Mimi Rothschild]

12:37 PM on 11/30/2011

Remedial child rearing classes? Some jail time might be more effective.

[jebby1]

12:29 PM on 11/30/2011

This stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum. Bullying is a progressive behavior accommodated in an environment where the adults give the kids the freedom to run wild and intimidate one another without adult intervention.

[Cacey]

12:27 PM on 11/30/2011

Parents who fail to educate their children about sex and about proper behavior at a very early age are what feeds those like Coach Sandusky at Penn State. It is the responsible thing to do and if parents don't do it, the schools must.

[GlennWatson]

12:29 AM on 12/01/2011

I though rape was not about sex.

[Cacey]

09:01 AM on 12/01/2011

A gun is for hunting or defence. How many people are murdered by guns?

[AmagaiBluWave]

10:43 AM on 11/30/2011

I pray that all those children get the healing they need. Evil knows no limits and cruelty is upon the land...Judgement is mine sayeth the Lord...I pray for justice and mercy in all things, in Jesus' name I pray for us all. God loves YOU.

[doylegang1]

10:09 AM on 11/30/2011

Just another display of the moral land slide occurring in our country. It is sad, but not surprising.

[bpalmer342]

10:04 AM on 11/30/2011

It's not sex.......its power and violence. What good will these kids be worth in High School Good case for post birth abortion. Before they convert to Islam

[Suemoni]

09:41 AM on 11/30/2011

"Some" children lose there inocense way too early because they are pre-exposed to bad elements. We're living in a very different time surrounded by adults and or children who do very evil and hurtful things to each other. My question is "Is the Legal/Justice System ready to handle the influx of children who are now commiting adult like crimes such as; Rape, Murder, Bullying etc.These three boys may have very well severely traumatized their 8 year old victim for the rest of his life. They should NOT get off that easy just because they are under age kids. Today we are surrounded by people who truly have no morals and they don't give a damn about me, you or themselves. So changes within the Legal/Justice System needs to be made to accommodate this new breed of people.

[davidwr]

07:00 PM on 11/30/2011

"These three boys may have very well severely traumatize­d their 8 year old victim for the rest of his life."

Perhaps, but the trauma of an older kid either doing something to you on a one-off basis or bullying you for several months then having it end after a major event like this is likely less damaging than the trauma of ongoing abuse at the hands of your parents or someone your parents trust such as a relative, coach, teacher, neighbor, babysitter, or religious leader.

The biggest difference is it's now out in the open AND the victim is getting support services. He won't have to spend the next few decades asking questions like "why me" or "why didn't I fight back" etc. With good support, he should be well on his way to having a "former victim" mentality by the time he's in high school and by the time he's an adult the remaining long-lasting effects will be greatly muted if not altogether gone.

Now, had this NOT been exposed or worse, had adults known about it and done nothing, then the healing would not start and his adult life would be greatly affected.

[novabird]

09:27 PM on 11/30/2011

This is the legacy of 50+ years of moral relativism- a decline into human savagery

[Suemoni]

04:18 AM on 12/01/2011

So True..

[pslcitizen]

09:28 AM on 11/30/2011

Crazy...I've heard of similar stories before from other adults when they were kids. They were too ashamed to tell anyone at the time. What makes a child act this way unless they've been molested themselves?

[cwebster]

11:33 AM on 11/30/2011

That's what i think...one or more of the assaulters was probably an abuse victim himself.

[liddlelady]

11:35 AM on 11/30/2011

I was thinking the same thing! This is a learned behavior. Those boys need psychiatric help.

[proffordisabilities]

09:21 AM on 11/30/2011

This is the result of the neglect of our total society to address the horrible social situations that we, without appropriate funding, cannot deal with to change, to remediate of psychopathology or sociopathology. Clearly the rich and wealthy could give a fig about their horrible futures, as the victims become the victimizers, without adequate individiual and group psychotherapy but what do we find, that the Republicans again, and again, and again are determined to cut the budget, because why, their neighborhoods are all walled in and they have nothing to fear.These are victims of extraodinary neglect and abuse (verbal, psychological, physical, social and impoverishment) by family, neighbors, classmates, strangers, teachers and administrators, members of the clergy, Boy Scout Leaders, day care teachers and managers, so many psychopathological and sociopathlogical victims themselves in the past who are overwelmed by the recurring psychosis of the terrible injustices put upon them, and creating another generation of their own victimizers, putting pain upon the weaker as was done unto them.

Any hope takes a commitment by Congress, and Senator Boehner needs to spend 24 hours visiting children in the youngest jeuve, talking with the children and then vising an SED (Severely Emotionally Disturbed) classroom maybe talking with the teacher, observing the class, maybe prearranging a short activity that you might do with the class or maybe talking about sometimes when they get mad or sad and what makes them mad or sad, lonely or scared, maybe if Boehner cared...

[tbot48]

09:10 AM on 11/30/2011

You all are off track here... This was nothing more or less than another case of bullying, just done in a perverse manner...
With that said, I would like to see the parents of these kids have their home life evaluated and tightly monitered... Send the parents to remedial child rearing classes and lay down penalties for so much as a hiccup from either kids or parents...
These people and the art of bullying needs to be put on a very short leash...

[nfischet]

10:20 AM on 11/30/2011

probably single parent households,and the new mantra of :its okay to be g a y ....and lack of personale responsibilities,and just more of the political correctness

[ttruckr23]

09:09 AM on 11/30/2011

My ex's kid was brought up on charges to get him tossed from school at around 9 years old for sexual assault. He was fat & 2 girls kept teasing him. One day he's had enough, turned in his chair to smack her behind him and his elbow hit her in the crotch.... not the intended target. Several days later the girl's mom (also the "town pump" BTW) brought sexual assault charges up with the school board.

My girlfriend was never told of anything happening by the school, just found out when her kid came home upset the day of the hearing and she realized something was wrong with him. After talking with him, he told her what was going on that evening, she was shocked at the fact she was never informed. She showed up at the meeting with a lawyer friend of her late hubby, the school board saw them sitting together and, azpparently fearing a lawsuit by her when she stated her case, tossed the charges out post haste.

So don't jump to conclusions on this deal either. Though the circumstances sound vastly different, you'd best wait for it to play out totally before jumping on the bandwagon.