St. Louis-area boy admits raping 6-year-old neighbor

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) -- A St. Louis-area boy admitted Friday that he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and stomped a 6-year-old neighbor, then left her semiconscious near railroad tracks.

Sherman Burnett Jr. was 13 at the time of the attack. Now 15, he pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, first-degree assault, sodomy and attempted rape in the November 2005 attack in Spanish Lake. Burnett is the youngest inmate ever housed at the St. Louis County jail, according to STLtoday.com, the Web site for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was certified last year to stand trial as an adult.

Burnett could face up to life in prison at sentencing Oct. 5.

Police said the girl was punched, kicked, stomped and choked while being sexually assaulted. An officer found her in the woods behind her home, about 11 hours after she was reported missing. She was barely alive.

While hospitalized, the victim identified her attacker by his school yearbook picture.

STLtoday.com reported Burnett is separated from the jail's adult population by being housed in the infirmary. He has continued his education in jail.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com