Teen rapist sobs as he walks free after raping 12-year-old woman he met in park

A teenage rapist broke down in tears as he was spared jail after raping a 12-year-old girl he met in a park. Owen Wilson was socialising and drinking with friends when he was introduced to the child, who he later raped that same day.

Now 18, Wilson sobbed uncontrollably as Judge Penny Moreland handed him a two year suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and 40 days of rehabilitation activity.

Wilson, who has no prior offences, was also issued a 10 year restraining order and placed on the sex offenders register for a decade. The court heard how Wilson, then aged 15, had been in a park in South Shields, drinking with friends during the school summer holidays in August, 2023.

During the afternoon, his group started chatting to some younger girls who were also in the park – including the victim, reports the Chronicle.

The young girl was given alcohol by the older group and as the day wore on, she found herself alone with Wilson.

The following day, the victim confided in a friend that Wilson had raped her.

She subsequently informed a family member, who alerted the police.

When questioned by officers, Wilson gave “no comment” responses to detectives but later admitted to rape at a plea and trial preparation hearing.

In sentencing Wilson, of Grace Court, South Shields, Judge Moreland stated that she had to impose the sentence that would likely have been given at the time of the offence, when Wilson was 15, meaning he could evade custody.

The news comes after we reported how two 15-year-old boys who initially avoided custody for the rape of two girls in Fordingbridge have been handed four years’ detention after the Court of Appeal deemed their sentences “unduly lenient”.

The boys, referred to as X and Y, along with another 14 year old known as Z, were given non-custodial sentences in May for a total of 10 counts of rape and seven indecent image offences related to two victims, who were separately assaulted in the Hampshire town in November 2024 and January 2025.

The two older lads participated in both attacks, while the 14-year-old egged on the rape of the second victim. They were given non-custodial sentences in May after a judge at Southampton Crown Court stated he should “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and that detention was a “last resort.”

But the Attorney General referred the sentences to the Court of Appeal as “unduly lenient” just days later.