Juvenile court rules empower judges to dismiss some sex charges against children under age 13 charged with molesting a child close to their age, the Ohio Supreme Court declared Wednesday.
The court was divided on the Franklin County case, voting 4-3 to overturn a decision by the Franklin County Court of Appeals.
The 2013 case involved a 12-year-old boy charged with three delinquency counts of gross sexual imposition for conduct with a boy who was nearly 10 years old.
What is with these rabid prosecutors who push these cases? Isn’t there supposed to be some cost-benefit analysis when pursuing charges against children, such as in this case? What a shame the young man involved in this had to go through the ordeal. The end result of this all? Two boys who are going to need extra love, attention, and probably counseling to overcome what’s happened. Nice job, Mr. Prosecutor, for creating a second victim for no reason.
We Americans suck. I wish every state would come to the realization that a persons prefrontal cortex isn’t even ‘attached” before the age of 25. A 19-year-old, neurologically, does not completely have the brain function to make rational decisions or fully understand the future consequences of their actions. There is no doubt much less actively in that part of the brain of a 13-year-old. We should not be charging them with crimes, period.
….
I’ll never understand this ridiculous criminalization of natural exploratory behavior of kids, behavior which any reputable psychologist would agree is a normal inclination and is nothing new. But in this brave new (dare I say, quasi police state) world we live in today, practically any and every kid in America is an uncaught sex offender in danger of having his or her life ruined by overzealous prosecutors before it even begins.
As for the boy referred to in the article, it’s probably safe to say he is now growing up with a very deep-seated distrust in, and hatred for, law enforcement and the system as a whole. I know that his ordeal would’ve been absolutely traumatic for me at that age. He learned a valuable lesson early in life, and I’m not referring to whatever it was that landed him in juvie court in the 1st place.
Good on the Ohio Supreme Court. It’s a start.