Teenage boys convicted of rape receive non-custodial sentences

Three teenage boys convicted of knife-point rape and other serious sexual offenses against two teenage girls in Hampshire received non-custodial sentences after a judge said he sought to avoid unnecessarily criminalizing them.

The boys, aged 13 and 14 at the time of the offenses, physically overpowered and sexually assaulted the girls, ages 14 and 15, in separate incidents two months apart.

The boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, received youth rehabilitation orders ranging from 18 months to three years for their roles in the attacks, which prosecutors said were brazenly filmed on mobile phones.

One 15-year-old boy was convicted of three counts of rape against the two victims, who did not know each other, and four counts of taking indecent images. He will be subject to 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance.

The court heard he had an IQ in the bottom 1% of his contemporaries and had been diagnosed with ADHD. Another 15-year-old rapist also had ADHD and longstanding anxiety, while the third defendant, now 14, was described as having a mild cognitive impairment.

Judge Nicholas Rowland told them: “None of you need to go to prison today.” Explaining his sentence, he said he wanted to support the boys’ reintegration into society, adding: “I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily.”

He stressed the seriousness of the boys’ crimes and said their filming of the attacks made them even more serious.

He added that he needed to remember the boys were very young, had low intelligence, a limited understanding of consent, and that peer pressure played a large part in what went on.

“I think of you as very young and none of you have been in any big trouble before,” he said. “You have all done very well with the restrictions put in place throughout the trial.”

Southampton Crown Court was told that in January 2025, the 14-year-old girl was threatened with a knife after becoming separated from her friends.

Forced to leave her mobile phone and an AirTag in a shop to prevent tracking, she was made to walk to a secluded field, where two defendants raped her while filming the incident.

After she reported the assault, an investigation identified a second victim, aged 15, who had been raped in November 2024 by two of the same defendants.

She had traveled alone to meet one of the boys for what she believed would be their first date after chatting on Snapchat.

The victim was raped by two boys in an underpass by the River Avon in Fordingbridge, and a video of her 90-minute ordeal was shared on social media, resulting in abusive messages, prosecutors said.

The first victim appeared at the sentencing hearing and, screened from the boys, described how her mental health had deteriorated since the incident.

She said: “I will never get that innocence back again.”

She read a poem she had written, saying: “All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes.”

A statement read on behalf of the second victim revealed she struggles to attend school and suffers from nightmares and sleeplessness. “I feel ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body,” she said. “The person I was before the incident has completely gone.”

The judge praised the bravery of both girls for providing statements and giving evidence.

Siobhan Blake, who leads the Crown Prosecution Service’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit (RASSO), said the incident was deeply distressing and part of a trend.

“Our prosecutors tell us they are seeing youth-on-youth cases with some involving more serious and more violent behaviour.

“It is vital young people are educated and informed about consent and that harmful and misogynistic attitudes are tackled as early as possible to prevent these crimes. Everyone has a part to play.

“Young people must understand that sexual activity without consent is a serious criminal offence that can lead to them being prosecuted.”

Rebecca Hitchen, spokesperson at the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “We are hearing that young men are perpetrating more and more sexually violent crimes, and this case is a horrific example of this.

“We must question what young men are being taught and exposed to that results in them planning and executing such appalling violence as a group, particularly given the additional harm and degradation caused by the assaults being filmed.”

She said sexual violence devastates victims’ lives, and its effects ripple out across their communities, “creating a source of heightened fear for women and girls trying to go about their daily lives”.

“While we do not know the online environments these boys were exposed to, online misogyny is so pervasive that few young people will escape its reach. Questions must be asked about the extent to which misogynistic content online has contributed to the extreme harm they have committed. While perpetrators must be held accountable, we must also ensure that tech platforms are put under scrutiny for their role in such harm,” she added.

All three boys have been made subject to a 10-year restraining order against their victims.