23/01/2007 21:56 - (SA)

Johannesburg - A 17-year-old who is on parole appeared in Ermelo magistrate's court on Tuesday charged with raping six teenage boys, said Mpumalanga police.

Superintendent Abie Khoabane said the youth took the teenagers captive in Lothair outside Ermelo on Monday while they were collecting wild fruit in a field.

"He threatened them with a knife and sodomised them. When he was done satisfying his sexual urges, he left the bleeding boys alone in the field," said Khoabane.

The youngsters - aged 13 and 14 - told their parents, and the youth was arrested on Monday afternoon.

The youths had since been taken for medical treatment and counselling.

He was released on parole five days previously after serving a portion of a six-month sentence for housebreaking and theft

Khoabane said the rape case was postponed until February 6 for further investigation.