My daughter was 16 and raped by a 17 year old last year. In the case of rape what charges or actions can be taken against the offender? Is cautioning the offender a valid action by the police? If during the "cautioning" the offender admits his guilt... can you not still decide to charge him?

It sounds like you are second guessing the Police. What exactly happened?

Rape is a crime. Cautioning instead of arresting appears inappropriate - and illegal.

Where is this? Laws vary.

Agreed, more details are needed. Are you calling it rape because your daughter was under the age of consent or was it a forced assault?

When was it reported in terms of when it happened?

It happened in Ontario last May. It was forced assault. My daughter gave her statement to an officer and felt a bit badgered and while trying to think about specifics the officer kept telling her not to lie. She offered her two options; one was to charge him which the officer explained would take at least two years, she told her that she would have to re-live the whole thing over and over and that the offenders lawyer would try to make her look like a whore and he could still walk away etc... or she could just have him cautioned which would leave a record with that Police Station and with the RCMP, but basically not a criminal record just a report. I guess the thought of the trial made my daughter go with the caution. The boy was called in and when they told him why he was there he actually admitted to it. My daughter is still angry and scared, she was hoping for justice.

OK, now it makes more sense. Rape is hard to prove and even harder to convict. Unless there were obvious signs of physical assault (bruising, cuts, etc.) or there was ample evidence of force, the defense will argue that it was consensual and her reporting it was "buyer's remorse".

I suspect the officer your daughter talked with felt there wasn't sufficient hard evidence. And that she would be undergoing an ordeal if she chose to prosecute with no guarantee of a conviction. So she offered your daughter a choice. One in which the guy now has the record of the accusation and, if he does it again, that record can be used to show tendencies that will make it easier to get a conviction.

I don't know enough about Canadian law to know if the choice she made is irrevocable. Nor whether the confession can be used under the circumstances. I suggest you and your daughter talk to a local lawyer or the local prosecutor and discuss the options. A lot will depend on the forensic evidence and whether it was kept.

One possibility may be to pursue a civil suit rather than criminal charges.