FOUR JUVENILES ARRESTED IN RAPE OF 7-YEAR-OLD

CHARLESTON -- Four Charleston youths could be punished as adults for the apparent rape of a 7-year-old girl last week.

Department of Public Safety Director Richard Couch said juvenile authorities took four boys ages 10, 11, 12 and 13 into custody Wednesday for their roles in the incident, which apparently occurred in an abandoned building Friday afternoon. Officers were called after students overheard the boys talking and told a teacher.

Charleston Schools Superintendent Terry Rowe said school officials were not involved in the investigation because it did not occur on school property.

"Apparently, the boys bragged in school about the incident and were overheard," Couch said. "Schools are mandatory reporters for child abuse and neglect. The teacher said after she had been made aware of it she called in the school resource officer who took over from there."

Couch said the alleged incident occurred in an abandoned building on Cleveland Street. The boys apparently illegally entered the building through a window and later fondled and sodomized the girl.

The boys face possible burglary charges in addition to the rape charges.

Juvenile criminal law requires each boy to have a mandatory certification hearing regarding the rape charges to determine whether the case should be heard in the juvenile or general court system. Mike Ellis, chief deputy officer for Mississippi County, declined to comment on the alleged incident. He said whenever a juvenile is charged in an offense "the law prescribes what we do. It's no different from the adult system."

Typically, few youths are cited into the adult system unless previous efforts to rehabilitate them have failed, said Abbie Crites-Leoni, attorney for the Cape Girardeau juvenile office.

"Just because it's a mandatory certification offense does not mean that the court has to certify the juvenile to adult court," she said. "Unless we have a very serious crime that's committed, there generally would not be a certification. Usually the closest thing to adult court we have is commitment to the Division of Youth Services.

Couch, who has investigated similar incidents in the past, said sex offenses involving juveniles generally occur because youths are "experimenting with sex."

But, he said, "this here was entirely too young of a child."