A BOY of 12 from York has appeared in court on a string of sex charges, including rape, on boys as young as five.

The youth, from the north east area of York, has been charged with eight separate sex offences on at least two boys aged under 13. Some of the charges are for rape, others involve touching and inciting youngsters to engage in sexual activity.

One of the alleged victims is just five years old, another is seven.

The identity of the accused youth cannot be published for legal reasons.

The alleged offences all took place in York between Thursday, June 16, and Saturday, September 17 last year.

The charges the boy is facing are:

Three counts of raping a boy of under 13 on separate occasions

Two counts of intentionally causing or inciting a seven-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity on separate occasions, short of full sex

Three counts of sexually touching a five-year-old boy on separate occasions.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police confirmed that officers from the force had investigated the incidents that led to the boy being charged.

Neither the Crown Prosecution Service nor the boy's solicitors would comment.

The charges have been made under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, relatively new legislation which came into force in May 2004 - replacing the previous Act of 1956.

Three of the charges the boy faces are against section five of the act, which prohibits rape of under-13s.

A further three are against section seven, which makes it an offence sexually to touch an under-13. The final charges are against section eight, which deals with either causing or inciting an under-13 to engage in a sexual activity.

Under the Act, anyone found guilty of raping an under-13 is liable to life imprisonment. The offence of sexual touching carries a maximum six-month jail sentence or fine after conviction in a lower court, but a maximum of 14 years if the accused is convicted in a higher court.

The case is due for its next hearing at York Youth Court at a later date. The boy has not yet either admitted or denied the charges.

Updated: 08:46 Saturday, January 21, 2006