Rape convictions raise legal questions

LONDON, May 24 (UPI) -- The conviction of two British boys ages 10 and 11 of attempted rape raises questions about the legal system's treatment of children, the judge in the case said.

A jury had found the two not guilty of rape an 8-year-old girl but returned a guilty verdict on attempted rape in the October 2009 assault in west London, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday -- making them the youngest defendants ever convicted of the charge.

The boys had denied all charges, the newspaper said.

The judge in the case, Justice Adrian Dudley Saunders, questioned the use of child witnesses when the girl changed her evidence while testifying and said she had not actually been raped.

"I don't think anyone who has sat through this trial would think for a moment that the system that we employ is ideal," Saunders said.

Barbara Esam, a lawyer for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said research shows many children don't understand questions they are asked under cross-examination.

"Sadly, we still have a way to go," she said, "to make sure courts work in the best way for children -- both defendants and witnesses -- who will be frightened and need support all the way through the judicial process if they are going to give their best evidence."