TWO male teenagers have admitted an ‘disturbing’ sexual assault on 13-year-old boy.

The pair, aged 14 and 15, pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court yesterday to two charges of sexual assault on the boy in Hapton on July 16 this year.

A third defendant, also aged 14, admitted falsely imprisoning the youngster during the incident in July.

All three defendants are from Hapton and were joined in court by their families who sat by their side as the charges were read out.

After the case, Detective Inspector Sion Hall, of Burnley CID, said the guilty pleas meant the victim would avoid having to relive the assault all over again.

He said: “This was a very serious incident made worse by the fact that the ages of the victim and offenders involved.

“There are no winners in a case like this because it has destroyed the families of both victims and offenders.

“It was an usual and disturbing case because the offenders were three boys and the victim was also a boy which is very rare.

“Their guilty pleas at least save further trauma for the victim and his family as they do not have to go through it all again in court.”

One of the defendants, aged 14, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, while another 14-year-old admitted to two accounts of sexual assault. A 15-year-old defendant also pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault.

Two of the defendants have been bailed until December 12 for sentencing. One of the 14-year-old boys was also bailed but he will be sentenced on December 19.

They had initially denied three charges of committing a sexual offence and one count of false imprisonment at Burnley magistrates in October.