TAMPA, Fla. - A 12-year-old boy put a toy gun to a woman's head and raped her in a park as her four children sat nearby, police alleged.
The junior high dropout was arrested after police traced a fingerprint found on the toy gun, authorities said. The boy has an extensive criminal record for burglary, car theft and drug charges, police said.
''Once we found out how old he was, we couldn't believe it,'' said Tampa Detective Tom Singleton. ''Just when you think you've seen the worst in a human being, something like this happens.''
The woman told police the attacker put the gun to her head and told her children - 4-year-old twins, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old - to sit quietly on a park bench while he forced her into nearby bushes.
She was raped twice in the daylight attack on Nov. 1, then her attacker fled on a bicycle, police said.
Prosecutors said they would attempt to try the boy as an adult. He was in a juvenile detention center Thursday on two counts of rape, armed kidnapping and attempted armed robbery.
The boy's mother said she believes her 5-foot-10, 120-pound son is innocent.