Revealed: West Midlands teens committed 490 sexual offences in last three years
Nearly 500 sexual offences were committed by teenagers across the West Midlands in the last three years, new figures have revealed.
This figure includes 142 crimes in 2015, with 29 cases of rape and attempted rape and 46 incidents of sexual assault committed by youngsters aged between 10 and 16.
Of these crimes, two incidents of rapes were committed by 10 year olds, while eight offences, including three cases of rape and two of attempted rape, were committed by 11 year olds.
The Freedom of Information request revealed 13 and 16 year olds committed the most crimes between them with 34 each.
Sexual assault was the most common crime with 46 cases, with 29 incidents of rape and 29 of attempted rape.
Wolverhampton councillor Val Gibson, the cabinet member for children and young people, described the figures as 'concerning'.
Councillor Gibson, said: "It is obviously of concern that youngsters are involved in this sort of activity.
"Our youth offending team work really closely with the police not only with supporting the victims and helping those who commit the crimes but also around preventative work.
"Crimes by youngsters is a particular concern when it is sexual offences."
The 142 crimes committed last year were a decrease on the previous two years, where 174 were committed both in 2014 and 2013.
In 2014, there were 65 incidents of rape, 54 sexual of assault, 28 of causing sexual activity, six 'other sexual assaults', 18 cases of sexual activity and three attempted rapes.
The highest number of offences were committed by 15 year olds with 39, which included 18 rapes and eight sexual assaults. Just three crimes were committed by 10 years old, all of which were sexual assaults.
The stand-out figure from 2014 was the 19 sexual assaults committed by 12 year olds, more than double any other age.
Despite the same number of sexual offences being committed in 2013, 174, the make up of the crimes varied.
There were 48 incidents of sexual activity compared to just 18 the year after, but the 44 cases of rape and 44 of sexual assault were both lower than the 2014 figures.
Speaking on the decline of the number incidents from 2014 to 2015, Councillor Gibson said: "This is positive news absolutely.
"I think it shows that preventative programmes, especially in Wolverhampton, are working."
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said the force did not wish to speculate over why there had been a decrease from 2014 to 2015.
