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School kids as young as 10 are among hundreds of children in Wales arrested on suspicion of rape in the past five years, we can today reveal.

Primary school-aged youngsters aged only 10 and 11 years old have been held over rape claims since the start of 2009, our findings show.

They are among a total of 243 kids aged just 15 or younger detained on rape allegations.

More than half of those arrested were freed with no further action, while at least four escaped with just a caution.

After being shown our findings the chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac), Peter Saunders, told WalesOnline: “The figures are not terribly surprising but they are incredibly sad and it should be a wake-up call to all of us that we should be doing something about this – the whole murky world of why children are being sexualised, brutalised and being drawn into these worlds.”

Children’s charity the NSPCC warned “vile” internet pornography was “warping young people’s view of what is acceptable”.

The figures, disclosed following freedom of information request to Wales’ four police forces, show almost 250 children under 16 were arrested in five years – including at least three children aged just 10 as well as six aged 11 and a further six aged 12.

Of those held only 32 were charged, while five were remanded in custody. At least 132 were made subject to no further action.

Charity founder Mr Saunders said exposure to material such as adult pornography could have a “profound effect” on children.

He said: “Stuff which is for adults is legitimate, we don’t have an issue with that. What those who are 18-plus do is their own adult business.

“But exposing all this kind of stuff to children, the emerging evidence is that it’s having a profoundly damaging effect on significant numbers and so it’s little wonder, sadly, that the age at which children are assaulting probably generally other children is going to come down.”

The problem needs addressing urgently, he added.

“We are building big, big, trouble up for the future if we don’t tackle all these issues – serious trouble.

“As a former home secretary famously said, child abuse tears apart the fabric of society and we let it happen at all of our peril.”

Alleged sexual violence by children aged just 10 could indicate “serious problems,” said Mr Saunders.

“It doesn’t have to be addressed through the courts but it certainly needs to be addressed through support for an adolescent problem child.”

Clinical and forensic psychologist Susan Byrne said she would “absolutely expect” children responsible for sexual violence had themselves been abused – whether sexually, physically or emotionally.

“I would expect them to have had extremely disturbed, damaged, childhoods where they have not learned how to manage themselves in relationships with others and specifically sexually with others,” she said.

Exposure to explicit material alone, in the absence of other factors, was unlikely to prompt sexually aggressive behaviour, she added.

“I would expect that it’s the other way around – that once someone has been disturbed and damaged in that way they are then more likely to seek out that material through those outlets.”

Ms Byrne told Wales on Sunday sex offending was not the type of crime perpetrators “just get over”.

“I think there’s been a feeling with other adolescent offenders that they will just grow out of it in terms of the kind of ordinary delinquency, if you like, and they somehow wise up as they get older and move on,” she said.

“I think for sexual offenders that’s not so much the case partly because it comes out of some – usually very serious – difficulties that have generated that.”

Children alleged to have committed sexual offences required “a lot of intervention” in order for them to change their behaviour, said Ms Byrne.

“There’s an argument about what is the most useful thing to do in these cases, what’s going to make the difference to these young people, and coming down heavily on them in terms of criminal justice is not necessarily what’s going to get you the best outcome.

“I think everybody struggles with that because on the one hand you have to give the message that this is not permissible and set boundaries and limits around people’s behaviour but if you don’t pair that with trying to make sense of this person’s behaviour and trying to work with them and form relationships with them where they will themselves begin to wander and begin to think about the rights and wrongs of this then we are not necessarily going to get anywhere.”

Des Mannion, the NSPCC’s head of service for Wales said: “The NSPCC is increasingly concerned about the sexualisation of younger and younger children.

“The easy access to online pornography, some of it violent and simply vile, is warping young people’s view of what is acceptable and healthy behaviour.

“This behaviour of course has a huge traumatic impact on the victim. We should also not forget that the young people perpetrating this serious abuse have often themselves experienced significant emotional deprivation and other forms of abuse.

“In Wales we provide a range of services for both children who have been abused and for children who display harmful sexual behaviour. Through therapy and intervention we encourage children who display sexually harmful behaviour to accept responsibility for what they have done and to prevent further incidents occurring in order to reduce the risk of harm to other children.”

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said: “Sexual offences are treated with the utmost gravity by the police and the Crown prosecution Service. Since 2003 (Sexual Offences Act 2003) the Government has classified sexual activity, including consensual sexual activity, between children under the age of 16 as criminal offences.

“Where children under the age of 16 have sex and it is reported to the police we must record it as an offence of rape. Following investigation, the law requires that the police refer such cases to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision about whether the alleged offender should be charged.

"It also requires that, where there is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of prosecution, the prosecutor must take into account, amongst other things, the age of the children involved, their emotional maturity and whether they entered into the relationship willingly when deciding whether the offence should be charged, cautioned or no further action should be taken. Where there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of prosecution a decision will be made to take no further action.

“In all cases, the local authority’s Children’s Services will be involved in ensuring that the children’s welfare is addressed.”