I think the interest in this case is so high that they are throwing out any little tidbit they can dig up. But the reporter saying that the original arrest was for rape and then the charge was changed to attempted sodomy leads me to believe it's more likely the victim was a girl. But I'm not an expert on how the various terms are usually used in criminal court.
Sodomy is a term of religious origin to characterise certain sexual non-procreative acts. Most commonly used to describe the specific act of anal sex both between heterosexuals and homosexuals, the term "sodomy" also may include non-coital sexual acts such as oral sex and other paraphilia. Laws forbidding certain types of sex acts have been found in some pre-modern cultures.
Attempted Rape or Assault with Intent to Rape
When there is no sexual penetration, there is no rape; but there may be attempted rape or an assault with an intent to rape. Unlike rape, attempt or assault with intent are what the law calls "specific intent" crimes. This means that in order to find an accused guilty, the prosecutor must show the accused intended to have intercourse by force or threat of injury and against the will of the victim. Even if the accused unreasonably believes the victim is consenting, the accused does not have the intent necessary for the crime.
Statutory Definitions
Rape is an act of sexual intercourse carried out:
"against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another."
where the victim is unable to resist because of an intoxicating, narcotic, or anesthetic substance that the accused has responsibility for administering.
where the victim is unconscious of the nature of the act and the perpetrator knows it.
where the victim believes, due to the perpetrator's intentional deceptive acts, that the perpetrator is her spouse.
where the perpetrator threatens to retaliate against the victim or any other person, and there is a reasonable possibility the perpetrator will execute the threat -- "threatens to retaliate" means threatens to kidnap, imprison, inflict extreme pain, serious bodily injury, or death.
where the victim is incapable of giving consent, and the perpetrator reasonably should know this.
where the perpetrator threatens to use public authority to imprison, arrest, or deport the victim or another, and the victim reasonably believes the perpetrator is a public official.