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Two Florida boys were arrested in June for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl iStock

Two boys, ages 11 and 12, were arrested in June for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Police began investigating the case in May but the boys were not arrested until in June. The boys' names were redacted and information from the case is limited because they are juveniles.

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The young girl was playing outside a Boynton Beach home when the boys allegedly approached her and asked to have sex.

After the girl refused, the boys threatened to beat her up, investigators said.

One of the boys then grabbed the girl by the arm and pushed her near a vacant house where the boys took turns raping her, the victim told police.

The girl told investigators that one of the boys again threatened her in the same area after spring break and raped her again.

When he left, he threatened to "shoot her house up" if she told anyone what had happened. She claimed another boy witnessed the assaults but did not participate in the rape. However, when police spoke to the third boy, he said he did not witness the assaults but did hear the boys threaten the girl.

Authorities were alerted to the case when the girl wrote a note to the staff at a school. According to the Palm Beach Post, investigators said an interview with the girl and a state child protection team "came back as positive for signs of sexual abuse".

Police questioned the boys, with one boy acknowledging they had sex with the girl but claiming he did not threaten her. The other boy allegedly said "(redacted) did a bad thing," but his mother ended the questioning with police.

The boys face charges of sexual battery but it has not been determined whether the boys will be charged as adults.

Individuals younger than 18 who are convicted of sexual battery against a victim younger than 12 are eligible for a life sentence under Florida law.

Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said: "When you are dealing with children at that age, that are acting out and committing serious crimes, they're generally indicators that there is something else going on in their lives."

Florida