By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Two 12-year-old boys are facing criminal charges after police said they were notified they plotted to kill the parents of one of the youths and rape his sister.
The Port Angeles boys pleaded not guilty Thursday in Clallam County Juvenile Court to charges of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit rape.
The Peninsula Daily News is not naming the boys because of their age and because their cases are being handled in Juvenile Court.
According to police, one of the boys told the other he would be accepted as a “ninja apprentice” if he killed his own parents and brought his juvenile sister to a “victory party,” where they planned to rape her.
That sister heard her brother talking on the phone about the plan and then told her parents, according to court documents.
The parents notified police, who arrested the boys Monday, said Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith.
They were both being held at the Clallam County Juvenile Detention Center on Friday in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Smith said he has received no indication that the plot was a joke.
“To say we took it very seriously would be an understatement,” he said.
The boy allegedly given the task of murdering his parents told police he had attempted to carry out the crime, according to court documents.
He allegedly obtained a sledgehammer from the family’s shed and hid it near the home.
According to court documents, he “attempted to commit the murders on five or six occasions but was unable to commit the crime because doors and windows had been locked.”
Port Angeles Sgt. Barb McFall said police are not releasing any more information about the alleged murder attempts because the investigation is ongoing.
The other boy told police he initially didn’t think his friend would go through with the plan but was later convinced otherwise.
He told police his friend wanted to kill his own parents because of an abusive situation at the home and promised to arrange transportation for him to California if he carried out the crimes.
The friend denied any intention of raping the girl, police said.
Court documents said that conspiracy to commit first-degree murder carries a possible sentence of 103 to 129 weeks, or about 2 to 2 ½ years in a juvenile facility, while conspiracy to commit rape in the first degree carries a possible penalty of 15 to 36 weeks, or about four to nine months.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
