The Star reported that the teenager lived for three months with his step-grandfather last year when his mother ran into financial troubles.

The elderly man allegedly drugged the boy’s food in the evenings and had cameras installed in every room.

The boy contacted his grandmother, complaining of discomfort – which he initially attributed to intestinal worms – and that he had “strange dreams” about his grandfather.

The family took the teenager to a doctor and reported the matter to the police.

The investigating officer at the Florida police station reportedly neglected to fill in the relevant paperwork to collect forensic evidence linking the elderly man to the crime.

In a separate story also reported in The Star, police in Alexandra apparently refused to open a case against three boys, aged seven, eight and nine, who allegedly raped a seven-year-old girl.

A doctor who examined the child could not confirm penetration, but said the child had cuts and an infection on her genitalia.

Police allegedly would not open a case because the accused were children.

Childline spokesperson Lynne Cawood said it was necessary to evaluate the degree to which the children exhibited a criminal mindset.

Cawood said the assault was criminal and said police should act on it.