A 14-year-old boy was today ordered to be detained for public protection for raping a pensioner in a "cruel and revolting" attack.
The teenager raped the 77-year-old woman in Banbury, Oxfordshire, on 12 November after asking to be let into her house to talk about the war, Oxford Crown Court heard.
The boy, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of rape.
He will serve a minimum period of two years less 65 days served. It will not be until after the time specified by the judge that the boy can be considered for release.
Judge Patrick Eccles told the boy: "This was a cruel and revolting sexual attack on a vulnerable 77-year-old woman living in her own home."
The boy was "a very damaged young man", the judge said, who needed considerable help and treatment.
"Your parents must accept a great deal of responsibility for the way you've turned out," he added.
The victim was in court with members of her family for the hearing, but placed in an area where they could not see the boy.
He sat for most of the hearing with his head down, weeping at times.
Alan Blake, prosecuting, said the victim lived alone in sheltered housing. She enjoyed regular visits from her son and daughter, and was due to be visited by her son at 9am that Saturday.
At about 8.40, when she was still in her nightclothes, she heard a knock on the door, and opened it to see a young man she recognised. That was because a few weeks earlier, he had attended the address, telling her he was researching a project about the elderly for school.
She had let him in and he had sat in the front room and asked questions about the life of an elderly person.
This time he told her he was still researching the project and wanted to ask her questions about the war, in the context of it being the weekend of Remembrance Day. He asked her questions for 10 minutes, and then invited her to participate in a "tasting test", to do with things she might have eaten in the past.
She was told to close her eyes, and he put some sherbet or sugar on her tongue as part of the test.
At one point she opened her eyes to see his erect penis. He grabbed her arms, there was a brief struggle, and she fell to the floor.
He tried to manhandle her on to her back, but she fought against him and was grateful to land on her front, and was able to use her alarm pendant.
The phone rang, and it was the victim's son, saying he had been delayed because his daughter had been sick in the car.
The victim invited the boy to answer the phone, which he did, speaking briefly before putting the phone down.
The victim had been unable to get up from the floor because of restrictions in her physical mobility, and the boy went on to rape her, anally.
Blake said that, after the pensioner pushed the pendant alarm, a voice spoke from an intercom in the room and the boy fled.
The victim's son, who had become suspicious when a male voice answered the phone, decided he would go round to check all was well, and he was able to comfort her until the police arrived.
She was able to give a description of the boy, who was arrested two days later and admitted the offence.
Terence Woods, defending, said the victim had demonstrated "the most extraordinary fortitude and the most generous concern for the welfare of the young defendant".
The boy had expressed true sorrow and regret for his actions that day, which he found almost impossible to explain, Woods said.
Reports about him said he "is and remains an immature and damaged child".
He first came to the attention of social services when only a year old, Woods said. His father is a violent alcoholic and on the sex offenders register, and he left home when the boy was very young.
His mother, who was not present in court, Woods said, had a number of other relationships, and at least three of her partners had convictions for sexual offences.
There were allegations, not proved in a court of law, that the boy had been the victim of physical and sexual abuse.
"He, from an early age, exhibited signs of sexualised behaviour inappropriate for his age."