'War stories' boy detained for raping Oxfordshire pensioner
A 14-year-old boy has been detained for the protection of the public after he raped a 77-year-old Oxfordshire woman.
The boy knocked on the woman's door in Banbury and asked to talk about the war before attacking her on 12 November last year, Oxford Crown Court heard.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was detained for a minimum of two years, minus 65 days already spent in custody.
He had admitted one count of rape when he appeared at the court in November.
The teenager visited the pensioner the day before Remembrance Sunday.
School project claim
Alan Blake, prosecuting, said the victim lived alone in sheltered housing, and the attack happened 20 minutes before the elderly woman was due to be visited by her son.
She recognised the 14-year-old and invited him in as a few weeks earlier he had visited her to say he was researching a school project about the elderly.
He told her he wanted to ask her questions about the war and asked her to close her eyes and taste some sweets she might have eaten in the past.
She opened her eyes and saw he had exposed himself.
A struggle followed, and she fell to the floor and was unable to get up due to her mobility problems.
At this point, the phone rang and the victim asked the boy to answer it.
'Cruel and revolting'
It was her son, calling to say he would be late as his daughter had been sick in his car.
The boy then raped the woman.
The defence said the boy had expressed "true sorrow and regret" for his actions that day, which he found "almost impossible to explain".
The teenager was described as an "immature and damaged child" in reports presented to the court.
Judge Patrick Eccles told the boy: "This was a cruel and revolting sexual attack on a vulnerable 77-year-old woman living in her own home."
He told the boy that he had "abused the trust" of his victim, which made the offence "more serious".