Australian court frees man accused of raping his minor brother a decade ago

New South Wales: An Australian man accused of raping his minor brother a decade ago, walked free after the High Court ruled in his favour stating that he was 'too young to understand' what he had done.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the accused identified only by his initials RP, was 11-year-old when he had anally raped his 6-year-old brother.

During the trial of the case, the court heard that once the accused was left alone at home with his siblings while their father was out for some work. Taking advantage of the situation, the accused locked one of his brothers in a room and told him, "If you wanna come out, you gotta let me do this to ya." The accused then pushed the victim on a pile of clothing, held him down and raped him while wearing a condom.

The court also heard that the victim cried out in pain but the accused refused to let him go. Instead he kept his hand on the victim's mouth to prevent him from screaming.

Prosecutors told the court about two incidences when the minor victim was sexually abused by his elder sibling.

However, the High Court observed that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused knew what he was doing is morally wrong.

"That is to say, I am left – after considering the totality of the evidence that was adduced at the trial – with a reasonable doubt about whether RP understood that the sexual intercourse which he had with his brother was seriously wrong by normal adult standards," the judge said while announcing the verdict.