Seven-year-old boy is charged with rape after incident on Thanksgiving in upstate New York
A seven-year-old boy has been charged with rape after an alleged incident on Thanksgiving in upstate New York.
New York State Police charged the unidentified child, of Brasher Falls near the US-Canada border, with third-degree rape on March 23, according to WWNY.
The boy was released and will reportedly be tried as a juvenile delinquent.
Authorities said the incident was first reported on November 26.
No further details have been released about the incident or about the age of the alleged victim.
A seven-year-old boy has been charged with rape after an alleged incident that took place on Thanksgiving in Brasher Falls, upstate New York
It is also not clear what relation, if any, the suspect and the victim are to one another but police said the case will be handled in Family Court.
A Queens attorney who handles youth defense cases slammed authorities as 'absurd' for bringing the charges against the 7-year-old and said he believes it is almost an 'impossibility' that they will stick.
'Instinctually, it shouldn't happen that a 7 year old - I don't think you even could really realize what you're doing at 7 years old,' said Anthony Martone.
'So I think it's absurd to charge a 7 year old with rape. They'd have to prove he actually physically committed this act, which to me it almost seems to be an impossibility.'
Under current New York state law, children aged 7 and over can be arrested and prosecuted as juvenile delinquents.
Queens attorney Anthony Martone (pictured) who handles youth defense cases slammed authorities as 'absurd' for bringing the charges against the 7-year-old and said be believes it is almost an 'impossibility' that they will stick
Lawmakers are currently trying to pass a bill through Albany to increase the minimum age to 12 following a string of controversial arrests of young children.
In February, shocking footage surfaced of a 9-year-old black girl being pepper-sprayed by cops in Rochester as she begged 'please don't do this to me' and 'it burns'.
The video of the January 29 incident showed the handcuffed girl in the back of a police car crying as cops told her: 'You did it to yourself.'
The incident sparked an uproar and renewed calls to raise the minimum age of criminal prosecution statewide.
Public defender groups calling for change also point to a 2015 incident where a 10-year-old Bronx boy, known only as AW, was arrested by the NYPD after his 2-year-old sister suffered burns when he placed her on a radiator.
The boy was handcuffed and taken to a police precinct where he was interrogated by police alone.
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