A Tonbridge teenager who repeatedly raped his 11-year-old nephew and sexually assaulted three other family members has avoided jail.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of eight sex crimes involving young relatives following a trial in July.

At his sentencing on Tuesday, Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard the boy had taken his nephew to his room on the pretence of playing on video games or looking at his posters, before raping him on three separate occasions.

Alex Rooke, prosecuting, described how another time the teenager abused a different nephew, aged six, by putting his hands down his trousers when they were at a family barbecue.

In his statement to police he insisted he was just tickling him.

He told another nephew, 10, that he could only play on his Xbox if he performed a sex act on him, which he refused to do.

The defendant, who was 14 at the time of the offences and suffers from autism, was also convicted of sexually assaulting his 12-year-old niece.

“If you were older you would be looking at a long sentence in prison for this.” - district judge Barron

The court heard she had welled up with tears during an interview with social services.

Sentencing, district judge Justin Barron told the boy: “You haven’t any previous convictions and you were 14 at the time. I have concluded you are not a dangerous offender in the legal sense although clearly I have concerns about your offending.

“If you were older you would be looking at a long sentence in prison for this but as a youth offender it is different.”

The teenager was sentenced to a two-year youth rehabilitation order including supervision and an activity requirement. He will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years, meaning he cannot be left unsupervised with children.