Pennsylvania boy, 11, charged with repeatedly raping two other children younger than him

An 11-year-old boy from Pennsylvania has been charged by local police following allegations of sexually assaulting two younger children over a period of nearly three years.

The state police in Mercer County initiated a rape investigation after receiving a report of sexual abuse against the boy, who resides in the rural Otter Creek Township outside Greenville.

Authorities believe that the child repeatedly assaulted a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl 'on multiple occasions' in the town from April 2021 to December 2023. Both victims are residents of Akron, Ohio, which is over 70 miles southeast of the accused's home in Pennsylvania . It remains unclear if they relocated there following the alleged incidents.

READ MORE: Horrifying new footage shows Hamas kidnappers lining up young women taken as hostages

READ MORE: Uvalde parents settle for 'only' $2m with cops who bungled mass shooting response

Upon concluding their investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police reported: "At the completion of this investigation, the actor was charged with sexually assaulting two other juvenile victims between the above dates at the above location on multiple occasions." Charges have been filed against the accused through Mercer County Juvenile Probation.

Studies suggest that more than half of child sexual abuse offenses in the United States are committed by perpetrators under the age of 18.

Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports, and entertainment stories

However, a 2020 study published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse found that child perpetrators often have different motivations for abuse than adult offenders and tend to respond more favorably to treatment.

Sadly, this isn't the only case of child abuse out of Pennsylvania this week. A 24-year-old woman from Pennsylvania will be the third and last culprit to be thrown into prison following the brutal murder of a three-year-old girl.

After admitting guilt to several offenses related to the murder of young Bella Rae Seachrist, Alexis Herrera will go to prison with her sister and brother-in-law, according to court documents. Herrera entered a guilty plea to one count of general criminal homicide, counts of aggravated assault , endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful restraint, and conspiracy to conduct criminal homicide.

Police found the young child unresponsive in a bathtub during the summer of 2020, having been beaten and starved by a trio of assailants.

Join the Mirror's SMS news service to get the biggest breaking stories delivered straight to your phone. Click here to subscribe

Rather of entering a plea to a particular charge of first-degree, second-degree, or manslaughter, Herrera will be surrendering to Allegheny County Judge Bruce R. Beemer's will by entering a plea to the latter open-ended homicide charge.

At an as-yet-to-be-scheduled "degree of guilt hearing," Beemer will preside over the presentation of evidence by both parties about Herrera's degree of guilt—or lack thereof—in Bella's murder. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the judge will next determine if she was guilty of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, or involuntary manslaughter.

Herrera will be imprisoned for Bella's homicide with her sister Laura Ramirez and her brother-in-law Jose Salazar-Ortiz Sr. Herrera faces a sentence that could run from 10 years to life without the possibility of parole.