'Bulger-type' case sparks call for urgent treatment

An 8-year-old Australian boy's involvement in the gang-rape of a toddler has sparked a comparison with Britain's James Bulger case.

Police were unable to charge the Cairns boy for his part in the sexual assault of a 3-year-old girl because he is not yet 10 - the age of criminal responsibility in Australia.

The 8-year-old was with two other boys, aged 11 and 13, who led the little girl to a house earlier this month in Westcourt, an inner-city Cairns suburb, and raped her.

Sydney-based child psychiatrist Dr Louise Newman said children who showed aggressive and sadistic tendencies should be assessed and treated without delay.

"It's reminiscent of the Bulger case. It's rare for a child of that age to be involved in organised violence.

"You'd want to know what other things this child had been involved in and if this was a pattern of behaviour or whether they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"For children of that age, this is not going to be a sexually motivated rape. It's motivated by aggression and the exercise of power and sadism really, causing distress. That's extremely disturbed."

James Bulger, 2, was lured from a Liverpool shopping centre, tortured and bashed to death by two 10-year-olds in 1993, sparking debate about whether they knew what they were doing was wrong.

Although the 11-year-old has been charged with rape and the 13-year-old is being dealt with under the Juvenile Justice Act, Queensland law does not require the 8-year-old to stay away from the toddler or even undergo counselling.

The Child Safety Department has been asked to become involved in the boy's case and has offered counselling to his family but cannot force him to attend.

"The children who I've worked with are showing the signs of this sort of problem at a very early age - in toddlerhood, 2- and 3-year-olds," Newman said. "From what we know about children who are either violent or sadistic at a very early age, they're usually at great risk of going on to have those sorts of problems. The evidence would suggest that you've got to intervene very early with those children. The longer you leave it, the harder it is."

She said recent research showed abuse and poor parenting affected a child's developing brain.

- AAP