Girl, 10, charged with rape and attempted murder of child, 5

A mother has sobbed in court after it heard her five-year-old daughter was raped and "scalped" in a horrifying attack by other young children. A 10-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy are accused of attempted murder and rape in a brutal attack on the little girl from Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Neither defendant can be named because of their age, and only the 10-year-old girl appeared before juvenile court on Wednesday last week. The family of the nine-year-old boy cited car problems for his no-show and a judge ordered him to appear before a court within a week or face an arrest warrant.

It's reported the 10-year-old girl has been placed on home detention with an electronic monitor. The girl, who was wearing a pink coat and a face mask, remained silent as the charges were outlined by the prosecutor.

According to local news site WOIO, Antavia Kennibrew, the mother of the five-year-old, appeared in court last week in an emotional state.

She told the court: "This type of behavior doesn't deserve grace. They knew what they were doing. And they were okay with that. They even played after not caring about my baby. Remember that."

Previously Ms Kennibrew had revealed she had found her daughter after the youngster had left the family home in September to play. She wrote on Facebook: "I found my daughter unresponsive, bloody with her hair pulled from her scalp, her body covered in bruises. I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. My daughter did not look like herself. She was traumatised."

It's reported the young child showed signs of "strangulation" and had a "big lump on her head" as well as appearing to have been beaten and raped.

Cleveland.com reports after a police investigation the 10-year-old girl and nine-year-old boy were charged with attempted murder, rape, assault, kidnapping and strangulation.

In court, Caitlyn Iodine, the assistant public defender representing the girl, denied the charges and asked the judge to release the child to her family.

Oscar Albores, assistant county prosecutor, asked for home detention for the girl and a "minimum" of an ankle monitor to be placed on her.

Judge Kristin Sweeney told the court the girl's parents were not present and that, combined with the serious nature of the charges, she would order home detention with a monitor.

The case continues.