A 13-YEAR-OLD boy who admitted raping his eight-year-old sister after watching pornography on a friend's Xbox has been given a 12-month referral order.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted raping the girl, indecently assaulting her and inciting her to perform a sexual act on him.

He told police he had been watching porn with a friend and ‘decided to try it out’.

He said he had chosen his sister because she was small and ‘couldn't remember stuff’.

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Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, said when she was interview by specially trained police officers the girl said she loved and missed her brother. She said she wanted him back home.

Graeme Parkinson, defending, said the incident had been extremely traumatic for the whole family.

"The long term aim is to retain the family unit and that will be done on a gradual basis," said Mr Parkinson. "I am sure this boy will grow up to be a very responsible member of the community."

District judge James Prowse said pre-sentence reports showed the boy had grown up in a stable and caring family.

“The reports are full of praise for your parents and the conundrum is why you did what you did,” he told the boy.

“You and your friends had been watching hard core pornography on the internet at someone else's home and having sexual conversations with your friends.

Some of the others were telling you about things they had been doing, probably more imaginary than real. You had this desire to try it out after watching the adults."

Judge Prowse said the boys parents had been very alert to the risks of internet pornography and carefully monitored all devices in the home.

"When they discovered you were watching porn while on sleepovers they also put a stop to that," said Judge Prowse.

"It is difficult to prevent all access because technical change has been enormous. There are many people now asking questions about the link between increasing availability of internet porn and a dramatic increase in the number of sexual offences by children on children."

Sentencing the boy to a 12 month intensive referral order the Judge said the aim was to ensure nothing similar happened again.

"I hope you can get on with everything that has been put in place to help you and then you and your family can move on," he added.

The boy was made subject to the requirements of the Sex Offender Register for two and a half years, the minimum required by the law.