A 47-year-old man was charged with the attempted rape and sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy last month.

This case is part of a disturbing trend revealed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions which reported 12 people charged with a total of 26 counts of serious sexual offences in December.

These charges include rape, attempted rape, abduction with intent to commit rape, indecent assault and sexual assault, affecting mostly minors and revealing troubling patterns of abuse within families and close relationships.

Among the other charges, an 18-year-old man was charged with raping his nine-year-old stepsister, while a 20-year-old man faced five counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault involving his 14-year-old stepsister.

In another case, a 45-year-old man was charged with raping his 19-year-old sister-in-law.

One particularly disturbing case involved a 34-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, both charged with raping and abducting a 21-year-old woman.

The two accused were the victim’s uncle and cousin. However, the case was discontinued due to insufficient evidence.

Another incident saw a 22-year-old man charged with abducting and attempting to rape his 17-year-old girlfriend.

The charges also include several cases involving minors.

A 16-year-old boy was charged with raping his 13-year-old cousin, and a 15-year-old boy was charged with raping a 10-year-old girl from his village.

A separate case involving a 13-year-old boy charged with sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl was discontinued due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

Of particular concern is the involvement of a police officer in one of the charges. A 29-year-old police officer was charged with raping his 28-year-old wife.

In a related case, a 56-year-old man was charged with multiple offences, including four counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault, all involving his 16-year-old stepdaughter.

In total, the 12 accused persons face charges involving 17 counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, two counts of abduction with intent to commit rape, one count of indecent assault and five counts of sexual assault.

Of the 11 victims, eight were under the age of 18 with 10 female victims and one male victim.

The statistics also show cases where the victims and accused were related.

In total, seven incidents involved familial or close relationships between the victim and the accused.

Two cases were withdrawn after discontinuances (Nolle Prosequi) were filed due to inconsistent and insufficient evidence.