Three Teenage Boys Jailed Over Raping a Mother in Her Home

Three teenage boys have been sentenced to three years in a youth justice centre by a Children's Court over raping a Victorian woman in her Bendigo home in January last year. The rapists were aged 17, 16 and 14 at the time.
 

Three Teenage Boys Jailed Over Raping a Mother in Her Home

The victim was a "vulnerable young mother" and the attack occurred in her own home when her two young children were also at home. The court was told that her children were asleep as the teenagers did the sustained attack.

The culprit teenagers denied the charges of rape, attempted rape and indecent assault, forcing the case to a contested hearing.

The judge said it was an extremely serious example of rape and handed the three the maximum allowable sentence in the court's jurisdiction.

The maximum jail term for adults for rape is 25 years, but it is two years for defendants aged between 15 and 20 when the case is heard in the Children's Court, except when there are multiple counts. Then the maximum term is three years.