9 of the 23 people charged with serious sexual offences in October were juveniles.
These offenders are under 18 years old.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions says four 16-year-old boys have been charged with the defilement of a 15-year-old girl in Nausori. All the juveniles were from the same school.
In two other alleged gang rapes in Suva last month, a 17-year-old boy was charged alongside an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old with the rape of an 18-year-old girl while in another incident a 17-year-old boy was charged alongside a 20-year-old man with the rape of their 17-year-old cousin who fell pregnant after the incident. The 20-year-old man has also been charged with aiding and abetting rape.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the rape of a 10-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy was charged with the rape of his 6-year-old niece while another 17-year-old boy was charged with the rape of a 14-year-old girl.
23 people were charged with a total of 36 counts of separate incidents in October.
There was 1 male victim and 16 female victims.
There were seven matters where the accused persons and the victims were related to one another.
A 64-year-old man was charged with the rape of his 6-year-old stepgranddaughter while a 49-year-old man was charged with the sexual assault of his 9-year-old granddaughter.
A 27-year-old man has been charged with the sexual assault of his 2-year-old stepdaughter. In another incident, a 47-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of his 14-year-old step-niece.
The accused allegedly threatened to kill the victim with a knife.
A 25-year-old man has been charged with the rape and sexual assault of his 15-year-old niece.
There were two separate incidents where a 62-year-old man and a 23-year-old man were charged with the rape of a 12-year-old and a 4-year-old girl.
The accused persons and victims were neighbours.
Meanwhile, a 69-year-old man was charged with the rape of a 7-year-old girl who was residing with the accused’s family at the time of the incident. A 44-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of a 44-year-old intellectually disabled woman who fell pregnant after the incident. The accused and the victim were neighbours.
One case of rape and sexual assault was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
