News: These 6 home-schooled brothers allegedly raped a girl for 10 years.

Warning: This article deals with issues around sexual abuse and could be triggering for some readers.

The girl is only 16 years old.

But for 10 of those years, she was allegedly been raped repeatedly by six men.

Even more horrifically, the alleged perpetrators were six brothers whose parents allegedly knew about the abuse that was happening in their family home.

Brothers Eric, Jon, Mathew, Nathaniel, Benjamin and Aaron Jackson were arrested last Tuesday on a range of charges including statutory rape and sexual offences, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The brothers were home schooled in Perquimans County, North Carolina by their parents, and authorities say the girl was home schooled with them.

The abuse allegedly began when the girl was four and continued for a decade.

The sickening allegations reportedly came to light when Eric, 27, confessed the abuse to his pastor in 2012. 

The minister urged the boy to contact the police, but when authorities arrived at the family home to interview the girl, the brothers’ parents John, 65, and Nita Jackson, 54, allegedly obstructed the interview.

They later fled to Colorado, where a year-long investigation ensued. 

When the girl finally disclosed the abuse, child protective services removed her from the family and police interviewed the Jackson brothers and parents.

One of the brothers then reportedly told police Mrs Jackson had repeatedly witnessed the alleged abuse but simply walked away.

The brothers, now aged between 19 and 27, apparently showed little emotion as they turned themselves in, Perquimans Country Sheriff Eric Tilly told WTKR.

“I don’t think they know the magnitude of what they’ve done because I don’t think they knew it was wrong,” said Mr Tilley.

“They haven’t been taught any differently,” he said.

The brothers lived a reclusive life in a quiet street and had little education, Sky News reports. 

“Personally, I lay the blame on the parents and their charges are less than what the boys are going to get,” Mr Tilley said.

“It’s their responsibility to raise those kids and somewhere along the line, they failed.”

The brothers are being held on $150,000 bond while they wait for their arraignment, the Daily Mail reports.

 John and Nita Jackson have been charged with felony child abuse and released on bail, Sky News reports.

Our thoughts are with the 16-year-old victim.

Please note if this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please call 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017.  It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.