Custody for mother rapist

The youth had had a troubled upbringing, the court heard

A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to youth custody for raping his own mother - in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in legal history.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, carried out the assault on the 36-year-old woman in her home in Swansea during a weekend visit from a children's home.

On Friday Cardiff Crown Court heard that the teenager - who admitted a single charge of rape - has suffered physical and sexual abuse as a child and needed treatment for his "abnormal sexual desires".

Sentencing him to two years detention, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall said it was a "wholly, exceptional and unique case".

"It falls to this court to deal with possibly the first ever, utterly devastating allegation of a young man raping his mother.

"Your mother is a completely innocent victim," the judge told the boy.

You must confront your abnormal sexual behaviour and undergo specialist help Judge Jonathan Durham Hall

"Rape is the most vile offence with long-lasting and traumatic effects."

The court heard the teenager was on a frequent home visit from a children's home in the west of England and had had lunch with family and friends on Sunday 22 July - the day of the attack.

He later went out with friends and returned to find his mother asleep in front of the television.

It was then that the rape took place.

Stephen Rees, prosecuting, said: "After the rape the mother was in shock."

He is my own flesh and blood. I don't know if I will ever get over it. Rapist's mother

Mr Rees said the boy appeared to have "an unhealthy interest in his mother's relationships with men" and showed signs of jealousy.

Defending, John Hipkin said the teenager had been during his childhood "exposed to matters he should not have been".

"He needs specialist treatment and sustained therapy. The issues have blighted his life and rendered him disturbed."

The boy will detained at the Hillside All Wales Secure Unit in Neath in south Wales, for the two-year detention and training order imposed on him.

Sentencing the boy, who sat dressed in a suit with his head bowed in the dock, the judge told him his future was "not bleak".

'Brave response'

"You must confront your abnormal sexual behaviour and undergo specialist help," he told him.

The judge also praised the boy's mother's bravery for her "very mature and brave response" in report her son, saying it was her wish that he helped him rather than punished him.

But his mother's task in coming to terms with the assault will not be easy.

The court heard she told police: "If it had been someone else I could have got over it.

"But he is my own flesh and blood. I don't know if I will ever get over it."