A charge of rape stemming from an incident last November 2020 is making international news in a small rural New York village 25 kilometers south of Cornwall.
The accused is a seven-year-old boy.
The unnamed child, a resident of Brasher Falls, New York, was accused of third-degree rape on March 23 of last year, a criminal offense. The case is being handled in St Lawrence County Family Court.
The Daily Mail reported that the incident occurred in a village near the Canada-U.S. border. The incident occurred on the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend in November, and the boy, who had been released from custody, would most likely face juvenile delinquency charges.
In the New York state law, juvenile offenders can be arrested and punished at the age of seven. However, after a number of contentious arrests of young children, legislators in Albany are currently working to adopt legislation that would raise the minimum age to 12.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act, which is applicable to young people between the ages of 12 and 17, is a law that protects young people’s rights in the criminal justice system in Canada. It is unlawful to accuse a child under the age of 12 of a crime.
The Brasher Falls case has sparked controversy, with some attorneys criticizing the government for charging a seven-year-old child.
“Instinctually, it shouldn’t happen to a 7-year-old. I don’t think you could even realize what you’re doing at 7 years old, so I think it’s absurd to charge a 7-year-old with rape. They’d have to prove he actually physically committed this act, which to me, it almost seems to be an impossibility,” New York City attorney Anthony Martone wrote.
According to the source, it was not clear what relation, if any, the suspect and victim were to one another and the police said the case would be handled in family court.
The news story originally appeared on March 25, last year in regional publications, such as the police blotter in the Watertown Times. It stated that the charge was related to a sex offense allegation from November 25, 2020.
No more information regarding the incident or the age of the alleged victim has been made public.
Sources: Awm, Cw39, Independent
