A 13-year-old who admitted raping an eight-year-old boy and carrying out a range of other sex offences was let off with a court caution - despite prosecutors admitting it was in the public interest to charge him with criminal offences.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also accused of sexually touching the same boy on two separate occasions, and was alleged to have incited an eight-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) withdrew the offences this week, deciding that it was only appropriate to conditionally caution the teenager and not prosecute against him.
That conclusion was reached despite the CPS themselves conceding that it was very likely he would have been convicted had a criminal case been launched against him.
The decision was made after discussions with police, the victims' families and the Youth Offending Team.
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