Child-committed sexual offences processed by the state have nearly doubled in the past year, the Star reported on Monday.
It said 82 children are being charged in courts across the country every day for raping or indecently assaulting other children.
Police, prosecutors, social workers and activists said between 25% and 43% of the perpetrators of sex and violent crimes against children are children themselves. Some are as young as six.
The state processed 130 059 child sex offenders between 1999 and March this year. Of these, 146 were sentenced to prison terms and 161 are awaiting trial.
A Gauteng academic and child abuse counsellor said a ”huge” proportion of the perpetrators claim sexual abuse of other children is inspired by acts they see on television.
Senior Superintendent Anneke Pienaar, national coordinator of the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit, confirmed a ”definite increase” in the number of sexual-abuse allegations made against children.
The alleged perpetrators of this abuse are ”getting younger and younger”, she said. — Sapa