Two Fifth-Graders Plotted To Kill And Rape A Classmate, Prosecutor Says

The boys, ages 10 and 11, had a seven-step plan to rape and stab the classmate, prosecutor Tim Rasmussen told a court Friday during a hearing to determine the boys' "mental capacity."

The judge overseeing the case in Stevens County, Wash. ruled the boys must face trial in juvenile court because they can understand the consequences of rape and murder, according to the Spokesman-Review.

One boy described rape as an assertion of power and strength, Rasmussen says.

The alleged plot unraveled when a fellow student at Fort Colville Elementary School told a teacher he saw a knife in the backpack of one of the boys, according to the Spokesman-Review.

Seattle news station NWCN.com reports the girl in question was allegedly the girlfriend of one of the two boys. During Friday's hearing, a Colville police officer took the stand and said he asked the boy if he knew killing his girlfriend would be wrong.

"Yes, I wanted her dead," the boy allegedly told the officer, according to NWCN.