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Little Villains: Criminal Kids

O

ogopogo3

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Oct 25, 2001
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Kids are so adorable at that age

This was in my newspaper today:

GANG OF CHILDREN MOLEST 2 WOMEN, STEAL THEIR FOOD

BALDWIN, PA--Police plan to file charges against at least seven children, ages 8 to 12, for allegedly invading the apartment of two young women, molesting them and stealing food.

Paperwork will be filed today to schedule juvenile court hearings on charges including robbery, indecent assault, trespassing and conspiracy, said officials in the suburb of Pittsburgh.

Police were still investigating Sunday and said it was possible more children could be charged.

The children remain in their parents' custody.

Five boys surrounded the women, overpowering them and groping them, while two girls helped themselves to food in the refridgerator, police said. The women, ages 18 and 21, yelled for help and their boyfriends chased the children away.

The women were not seriously hurt, Police Chief Christopher Kelly said.

He said that in addition to filing charges, police will seek to have the children's families evicted from the Green Meadows housing complex where the incident occurred.

Reports of drug abuse, vandalism, child neglect and unsupervised children are rampant at the 1,071-unit complex, police said.
 
Love your flying squirrels, MaceyHope!

What is the legal age at which juveniles are supposed to be capable of committing a crime. Under that age they are just poor, misguided little darlings.

Speaking from personal experience, children know from quite an early age that they are doing wrong. One of my sons knew he was doing wrong at the age of 5 by pulling the cats tail - hard. I pulled his hair - hard - and asked him how he liked it. He didn't do it again.

Carole, who is a Very Cruel Mother!
 
Actually, Carole, I don't follow your reasoning. If you had to show your son that it hurt to pull someone's hair/tail to get him to stop doing it, then he obviously didn't know that it hurt. The fact that he stopped shows that he didn't know it was wrong up till then.
 
I have to agree, if the kid knew it was wrong then he may not have done it. But in this case he kept from it not because he felt it was wrong, but because of fear of punishment.
 
So, by this logic, I presume Ted Bundy didn't know that killing women was wrong until he was put to death.

You're right. It all makes sense now.
 
Well, isn't that what being a psychopath is all about, not caring about right or wrong?
 
Annasdottir said:
Actually, Carole, I don't follow your reasoning. If you had to show your son that it hurt to pull someone's hair/tail to get him to stop doing it, then he obviously didn't know that it hurt. The fact that he stopped shows that he didn't know it was wrong up till then.
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Annasdottir, I'd already told him, on more than one occasion, not to do it, because it was hurting the cat . . .. I'm sorry if you don't agree with my methods. I try to explain to my children first, but I'm afraid I'm not a member of the non-smacking lobby. By smacking I mean a short sharp punishment, which is totally different to child abuse and beating-up.

I'm not a child psychiatrist or social worker, so if I've got it wrong, then no doubt someone here will enlighten me.

Carole, who does not punish her children for fun.
 
"Well, isn't that what being a psychopath is all about, not caring about right or wrong?"

Not knowing and not caring are two completely different things. To do something that you know is wrong without any care is malicious. If you've not been told that something is wrong how are you to know?
 
longwhitestripe said:
"Well, isn't that what being a psychopath is all about, not caring about right or wrong?"

Not knowing and not caring are two completely different things. To do something that you know is wrong without any care is malicious. If you've not been told that something is wrong how are you to know?
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And along the same lines, someone who is amoral doesn't know right from wrong (or rather their conscience doesn't - they might learn what society considers right/wrong), while someone who is immoral does, and still chooses wrong.

If I'm correct, psychopaths don't have any empathy with others. It's not that they don't care, strictly speaking, but they can't understand what others feel, can't put themselves in their place.
That's usually why 'normal' people don't hurt others - they know what it would feel like if it was done to them. And that's why the phrase 'don't do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to you' usually works.

Erm.. does that make sense?
 
Then presumably the 'little darlings' who mnolested those two women had had no guidance, or been set a very bad example by their parents. Children can be amoral little creatures and need guidance. Hence my 'cat-tail-pulling' story earlier. My kids would now never consciously harm an animal, or another human being (apart from each other and their mother!)

Carole
 
:) thank you for the compliment on my flyers , carole -MaceyHope
 
Carole, as the parent of a child myself, I totaly support your story/actions. I have been a fully paid up member of the anti-smaking society and unfortunatly it hasn't done any good! I'm way too soft....
Anyway, don't most people toe the line due to fear of punishment (Prison and/or from community.) or to fit in with society (Becomming an outcast ect.)? Most people DO know right from wrong, but if they think they can get away with it, will do wrong! Child abuse is very wrong but people still do it, as do wife beaters. Taking things from the office isn't a perk of the job, it's stealing. Speeding is breaking a law put there to protect society. Having a drunken Friday night punch up is against the law due to charges of abh, gbh, causing a disturbance, anti-social behaviour......
Let us not take the moral high ground here.
 
Originally posted by Sally


And along the same lines, someone who is amoral doesn't know right from wrong (or rather their conscience doesn't - they might learn what society considers right/wrong), while someone who is immoral does, and still chooses wrong.

If I'm correct, psychopaths don't have any empathy with others. It's not that they don't care, strictly speaking, but they can't understand what others feel, can't put themselves in their place.

Quite right... also, they may also believe that they are some god-like person, or that they are doing gods work by destroying the heathens (ref. Sharon Tate)..... but they don't necessarily appear crazy. until they bring the shotgun to work.
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Drug offenders 'as young as 10'

Children as young as 10 are being drawn into the drugs trade, new figures from Avon and Somerset police have revealed.

The force said it had arrested nearly 800 youngsters up to the age of 17 for drugs offences in the past two years.

The youngest offenders, aged just 10 and 11, were taken to court for possession of cannabis.

Councils and other agencies said they were working with the police to educate young people away from the temptation and dangers of drugs.

'Shocking' figures

A total of 660 youngsters were arrested in 2006 and 2007 for possessing controlled drugs, including cannabis, ecstasy, heroin and crack cocaine.

Another 94 were detained for possessing drugs with intent to supply, 29 were arrested for growing cannabis and 10 were held for selling drugs.

Maria Von Hilderbrand, area manager for support service Parentline Plus, said: "It is shocking that children as young as 10 are being prosecuted for drugs offences, but I think we should keep it in perspective.

"People know about peer pressure, about taking drugs, experimenting is part and parcel of teenage life.

"But fewer than 10% of youngsters who experiment go on to experiment with hard drugs.

"The important thing is that parents need support and children need support."

The figures were released by the force following a Freedom of Information request.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7407826.stm
 
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/13/flo ... index.html


:evil:
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


Five juveniles were in custody Tuesday after a 15-year-old was intentionally set on fire at a Deerfield Beach, Florida, apartment complex, police said.


Police say Michael Brewer, 15, is expected to be hospitalized for five months.

Michael Brewer suffered second-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. "He's in for a long, long recovery," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told reporters.

Three juveniles were arrested Monday night, hours after the incident, and two others were arrested Tuesday, sheriff's Sgt. Steve Feeley said.

"A couple of them last night were laughing about it," he said. "One of them arrested today seems genuinely sorry about it."

The youths all attend school together, police said, and Brewer apparently owed one of the suspects $40 for a video game and had not paid it. So the suspect allegedly stole the victim's father's bicycle, Feeley said. Brewer reported the bicycle stolen Sunday, and the suspect was arrested that day, taken to a detention center and released to his parents early Monday, police said. Watch Lamberti describe the alleged motive »

Neither Brewer nor the suspect went to school Monday, and the victim was waiting at the apartment complex for his friends when the suspect and two other people approached him, Feeley said.

From what the suspects and witnesses have told police, the suspect yelled, "He's a snitch, he's a snitch" and "pour it on him." Another juvenile threw what police believe was rubbing alcohol on Brewer from a plastic jug and used a lighter to set him on fire, he said.


Witness Provindencia Maldenero told CNN affiliate WPLG, "I saw a kid throwing something at the other kid, and next thing you know, the kid was on fire. He was up in fire."

A resident used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and Brewer jumped into the complex's swimming pool, WPLG reported.

Malissa Durkee, the teen's sister, told WPLG on Monday night that her brother was in critical condition. Lamberti said Brewer is expected to be hospitalized for five months.

"In my 31 years -- I always say, 'it's the most heinous crime I've ever seen,' " Lamberti told reporters Tuesday. "This one fits in that category. The fact that a person would intentionally ignite another child on fire -- it's indescribable."

Brewer "reported somebody for stealing his dad's bike," the sheriff said. "That's what this comes down to. It's retaliation. They deliberately sought him out, poured alcohol on him and set him on fire. I can tell you there's no way to explain it, no way to rationalize it."


Police believe the three arrested Monday night took an "active role" in the incident, while the other two helped surround Brewer and prevented him from leaving, Feeley said.

He said authorities are hoping to interview Brewer on Wednesday or Thursday
 
15 children wanted over savage playground game 'Catch and Wreck'


US police have charged a 12-year-old girl and are looking for 15 other children after two people were attacked in a savage playground game called "Catch and Wreck", media reports say.

The children, believed to range from ages nine to 15, gather at a playground in south-west Philadelphia, near the east coast of the United States, police said.

"What they do is they see somebody they believe is homeless, they go up to them, and they start punching and kicking them, knocking them to the ground and it's all for joy and for fun," Lieutenant John Walker of the Philadelphia police told ABC's WPVI-TV.

The two people the children allegedly assaulted last week - a 42-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man - were not homeless.

Vincent Poppa was bashed last Saturday and suffered a heart attack during or after the beating, and only came off a ventilator on Friday. The resident of a senior citizens' home remains in a serious condition in the intensive care unit of a Philadelphia hospital.

When he was admitted to the hospital, he had footprints on his head and shoe marks on his body, Lieutenant Walker told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"They were stomping him pretty hard," he said.

Belinda Moore was surrounded by youths and attacked on Friday night as she walked home from work.

"I'm glad to be alive; I really am. I'm able to walk. I'm a little bruised up, but I can still walk," she told WPVI-TV.

"They snatched my hat off, they snatched my bag. They hit me in my head with a stick. they hit me in my legs with a stick.

"They punch me on both sides of my face. And I'm begging these guys to please stop and let me go."

Ms Moore had an injured head and knee, police said.

Lieutenant Walker said police found out about the violent game after interviewing children after Ms Moore's attack. They believe the same group of youths carried out the beatings.

"They were all saying the same thing, laughing at us, like we didn't know what it meant," Lieutenant Walker told the Inquirer.

"They said: 'It's something stupid we do for fun.'

"It's a bizarre mindset these kids have developed. We're hoping we can nip it in the bud."

Police have arrested five children - four girls, including the 12-year-old, and a boy. The 12-year-old was charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, attempted robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and possession of an instrument of crime, WPVI-TV reported.
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http://www.smh.com.au/world/15-chil...round-game-catch-and-wreck-20100322-qofu.html
 
13-year-old boy drives across two European state borders without being stopped by police
http://rt.com/news/runaway-boy-drive-europe-874/

No checks - an EU border post. (AFP Photo / Csaba Segesvari)

A 13-year-old runaway travelled 1,000 kilometers across Europe behind the wheel of his adoptive father’s Mercedes without a hitch in a bid to see a biological relative.

"He looks like a 16-year-old, but still! He managed to fuel up and pass two borders. It's just incredible," Eleonora Spadati from the police department in Montebelluna, where the boy had been living for the past two years, told AFP news agency.

The teenager is Polish by birth, but was adopted by an Italian family.
The boy, who knows how to drive due to go-karting, fled with his passport and 200 euros after an argument with his parents. The dispute reportedly broke out after the teenager topped up his mobile phone without permission, and had it confiscated.

He intended to join his biological sister in Poland.

The boy travelled for two days across Italy, Austria and Germany in the powerful luxury car, passed checkpoints and even refilled the petrol tank twice, all without raising alarm. Police only intercepted him near the Polish border, after his parents alerted the authorities.

The family has travelled to Germany to be reunited with the teenager, but will face an examination from social services when they return.
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A 12-year-old boy has been arrested for a carjacking spree in Washington DC.
12-year-old arrested for four carjacking incidents in Washington, DC

A 12-year-old boy was arrested Thursday evening after a series of attempted armed carjackings and one successful one in Washington, DC.

All four incidents happened in the span of one hour, according to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) news release.

The boy was arrested by the MPD on the same day and charged with four counts of armed carjacking, the news release said. Police are still searching for a second suspect who was seen on a surveillance camera. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/06/us/12-year-old-four-carjacking-arrest/index.html
 
“12-year-old arrested...and charged with four counts of armed carjacking...”

l do hope that the nasty police didn’t use a Taser or handcuffs on the wee mite.

maximus otter
 
Four teenage girls alleviated their boredom by setting a vacant house on fire. These kid geniuses then shared video and pics of what they'd done on social media. :doh: :roll:
Teenage girls set Pennsylvania house fire because they were ‘bored’: police chief

The girls, a 12-year-old from Richland School District, two 14-year-olds from the Greater Johnstown School District and a 14-year-old from Ferndale Area School District, face multiple charges in juvenile court of felony arson, causing catastrophe, trespassing and endangering another person ...

On April 3, the girls allegedly used bug spray and Lysol to spark a blaze at an unoccupied house in Ferndale Borough.

“They placed a shoebox on the couch and threw lit pieces of paper into the box that had been sprayed with accelerant,” Chief John Blake said ...

The girls reportedly told police that they “were bored.”

One of the girls shared video of them starting the fire on Snapchat, and other photos of them at the scene watching their alleged handiwork also appeared on social media. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...ause-they-were-bored-police-chief/ar-BB1fzWn8
 
Who knew that Lysol was flammable?

(Well, yeah, they did, but . . .)
Not clear if the house was lived in or abandoned. Just because there's a couch inside, doesn't mean it's not abandoned. :(
 
A 13-year-old Georgia boy manufactured and sold 'ghost guns' (untraceable firearms). When a buyer attempted to rob him this boy used one of his own products and shot ... killing his sister ...
A 14-year-old girl was shot and killed by her brother, who was making and selling guns, Georgia sheriff says

A 13-year-old boy who was manufacturing and selling so-called "ghost guns" has been arrested after he allegedly shot and killed his 14-year-old sister with one of his own homemade firearms, according to the Douglas County, Georgia, Sheriff's Office.

Two people had come to the family's home in Douglasville, about 20 miles west of Atlanta, on November 27 to purchase a gun that the 13-year-old made, Douglas County Sheriff Tim Pounds said in a news conference livestreamed by CNN affiliate WGCL Wednesday.

But instead of buying the firearm, the pair stole the gun from the 13-year-old and fled the scene, the sheriff told reporters. The boy then shot at them as they were leaving, Pounds said, but instead struck his 14-year-old sister, who was identified by the sheriff's office as Kyra Scott. Investigators believe the weapon he used was one that he had made. ...

Authorities have arrested Kyra's 13-year-old brother and 19-year-old Yusef Jabryil McArthur El -- one of the two people who had come to buy the homemade gun -- the sheriff's office said in a news release. The 13-year-old has admitted to the shooting, Pounds said.

The 13-year-old has been charged with felony murder, the sheriff's office said in a statement, and McArthur El has been charged with robbery and felony murder. ...
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SOURCE: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/02/us/kyra-scott-14-year-old-killed-brother/index.html
 
A gang of kids ranging in age from 8 to 11 destroyed a New York artist space, stole some items, and were eventually caught while vandalizing automobiles.
A Sculpture Residency in Upstate New York Was Ransacked. Police Charged the Culprits: Children as Young as 8

Last weekend, an artist space in Utica, New York, was ransacked by a group of vandals, all of whom were between the ages of 8 and 11.

The incident took place early in the morning of August 28 at Sculpture Space, a residency program for sculptors founded 44 years ago. After breaking into the facility, the vandals destroyed artworks, overturned furniture, shattered glass, and sprayed graffiti on the building’s walls.

Pictures released by Sculpture Space illustrate the extent of the damage, which appears to be severe.

The organization later revealed that the “vandals used paint, torches, sledgehammers, and other studio items and tools to violently destroy several areas and objects.” All windows were smashed, as were multiple lighting fixtures. The site’s bathrooms were flooded and its office, which houses computers and archival documents, was severely damaged. ...

The following day, the Utica Police Department announced that it had charged five juveniles in connection with the crime, noting that, in addition to the damage caused at Sculpture Space, the group had also stolen antique bicycles and other pieces of property, as well as several hundred dollars, from the site.

Police units picked up the alleged defacers at a local automobile repair shop, where it was reported that several juveniles were throwing rocks at cars in the business’s lot. ...

The five suspects were each charged on counts of burglary in the third degree, petit larceny, criminal mischief, and criminal possession of stolen property. The Utica Police Department also pointed out that charges may be upgraded because of the extent of the damage that was done at the Sculpture Space. ...
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FULL STORY (With Photos): https://news.artnet.com/art-world/vandals-destroy-artist-space-utica-2168092
 
Three pre-teen girls trashed a Florida foam and insulation business to the tune of over a third of a million dollars' damage.
12-year-old girls cause $350K in damage to Florida business, deputies say

Three girls, aged 12 to 13 years old, were arrested Thursday after authorities said they caused $350,000 in damage to a business in Volusia County.

According to the ... Sheriff’s Office, the three girls “created their own disaster” when they vandalized Imperial Foam & Insulation ...

The ... three slashed bags of raw polystyrene material, spray-paint graffitied, and crashed forklifts crashed into products, smashing property. Pictures provided by authorities show the aftermath of the vandals. Police also provided a picture of a phallus spray-painted on a wall. ...

Authorities noted that two of the girls even spray-painted their names onto foam blocks.

They were caught a short time later when an employee entered the warehouse, overheard the spraying, and saw the girls running ...

Each girl was ... charged with burglary of a business and criminal mischief, both enhanced felonies due to the state of emergency.
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SOURCE: https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/1...k-in-damage-to-florida-business-deputies-say/
 
Teachers are often annoying but this is a tad OTT.

A 6-year-old is in custody after allegedly shooting an elementary school teacher in Newport News, Virginia.

The victim, a woman in her 30s, was struck inside a Richneck Elementary School classroom in what ‘was not an accidental shooting’, Police Chief Steve Drew said on Friday afternoon hours after the incident.

An altercation ensued between the teacher and the boy, who had a firearm, and opened a single round, Drew said.

‘The individual is a 6-year-old student. He is right now in police custody,’ he said.

School district spokeswoman Michelle Price earlier told 13News Now that a staff member had been wounded.

Families were notified of the incident via phone call, email and a social media post.

‘The Police Department and school division leaders are onsite and actively investigating,’ wrote the school district.

A lockdown was in place at the school for about an hour until the active shooter situation was cleared.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/06/newp...elementary-school-18055892/?ico=related-posts
 
What is the relevant age of criminal responsibility?
 
Frideswide said:
What is the relevant age of criminal responsibility?
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Minimum Age Of Juvenile Adjudication​

AgeJurisdiction
None specified27 states: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming

https://www.nga.org/publications/age-boundaries-in-juvenile-justice-systems/

maximus otter
 
In the US, child criminals are almost always charged under state, not Federal law. I vaguely think that teenagers dealing drugs and laundering money could be charged with Federal anti-racketeering laws (RICO).

In the juvenile judicial system, the judge has much more power to interpret and decide. Child criminals have broader options as to what happens to them than adult criminals do. The more serious crimes of course get more scrutiny. The 6 YO shooter will probably be evaluated medically and psychologically; I suspect the parents will also face charges, be convicted of something, do some time, will lose custody of the shooter for some time or permanently. In the US, over the past 20-30 years, the laws and court systems have evolved to have greater authority in actions concerning the family of the designated "criminal." Both compassionately to correct problems and dispassionately to isolate the criminal(s) from the public.

Violent repeat offenders, of any age, should be put away to protect the public. I am guessing that for children under the age of 17, this is almost nobody as a percentage of the population. However, the US has a large population. I once worked a project for one of the largest prisons - AKA youthful detention centers - for violent youthful sexual offenders. 100% of these children had horrific home lives. Almost 100% of them had documented head injuries. Most had been sexually trafficked by parents, grandparents, brothers, etc. - after being broken in by their family members. Etc.

(For about 20 years, I ran a small, specialized consulting company which had clients from many different industries. This gave me entry into many different worlds! Some of my personal observations in different threads come from these projects. I promise you I am not making this up - I could not imagine some of the things I learned in my working life.)
 
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