A 12-year-old boy in Butler County juvenile court Thursday admitted to lesser charges in the alleged sexual assault of two younger victims last year.

The boy, who is to enter the seventh grade in the fall, said little at his pre-adjudication conference before Judge Timothy McCune.

He is accused of assaulting two children, both younger than 8 years old, at different locations in the county around October 2017.

Because the boy is younger than 13, court authorities could not discuss the allegations. County detectives, who charged the boy, also declined to comment.

Juvenile court proceedings are typically closed to the public, but the boy's case fell under an exception since one of his crimes is a felony. The Butler Eagle is not identifying him because of his age. At Thursday's proceeding, the boy admitted to a pair of felony counts of indecent assault.

In exchange, prosecutor Russ Karl, a Butler County assistant district attorney, said he agreed to withdraw more serious charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault.

The boy's attorney, public defender Ryan Helsel, asked his client a battery of questions to make sure the court knew he understood the process and his rights.

McCune accepted the child's admission, which is the equivalent to a guilty plea in adult court.

The judge also ordered that the boy remain at the Pathways Adolescent Center in Oil City, Venango County, pending his disposition hearing Aug. 16. A disposition hearing is similar to sentencing in adult court.

In an unrelated juvenile case, a 17-year-old boy admitted to a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault of an unconscious person.

Prosecutors, in turn, withdrew felony charges of rape and aggravated indecent assault. Butler police charged the boy with sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman May 28 at her home where he had been staying on and off.

The woman told police she was assaulted while she was sleeping. The boy claimed they had consensual sex, police said.

The woman that same day went to Butler Memorial Hospital and underwent a rape kit exam.

The Butler Eagle is not identifying the boy, who told his attorney, Helsel, as well as McCune that he understood his rights and his admission.

Juvenile probation officer Jodi Pugh told the court that the boy must still undergo a sexual offender's evaluation.

McCune denied Helsel's request that his client be placed on house arrest so he could live with his parents. The judge ruled the boy for the time being should stay at Keystone Adolescent Center in Greenville. A disposition hearing is set for Aug. 16.