Two years ago, the U.S. Department of justice prosecuted a 10-year-old boy for aggravated sexual assault on five boys, ages 5-7. The assaults happened on an Army base in Arizona, which is why the DOJ was involved. After winning a delinquency judgment (the equivalent of guilty in juvenile court), the boy was sentenced to five years probation and required to participate in mandatory psychological treatment. He must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Full Article
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Prosecution Is Not the Way to Save a 10-Year-Old Child
When children under 12 engage in exploitative sexual behavior, it is often a result of abuse or exposure to sex acts that they themselves have experienced. These children need mental health treatment and family interventions, not probation and blacklists. Why then is the U.S. government prosecuting a young boy in federal court for behavior he engaged in when he was just 10 years old? The child, one of the youngest defendants ever pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice, is accused of engaging in sex acts with other young boys on a U.S.…
Read MoreFederal Youth Case on Trial
Two years ago federal prosecutors won a delinquency finding against a boy accused of engaging in sex acts when he was 10 years old with other young boys on an Army base in Arizona—one of the youngest defendants ever pursued by the U.S. Justice Department. The case, now being reviewed by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, could open a new front in a long-running debate about how to handle juvenile sex offenders, whose cases generally have been tried in state, not federal, courts. The records are sealed because…
Read MoreAL: Student facing charges for streaking at football game dead of apparent suicide
HARVEST, Alabama – The Sparkman High School community is mourning one of their own after a student apparently took his own life. ____ ____, 15, hanged himself Wednesday and died this morning from his injuries, Madison County Coroner Craig Whisenant said today. ____ death came less than a week after he was arrested for streaking across the Sparkman High football field during the Senators’ Sept. 27 football game against Grissom High School. Full Article Related: WHNT Coverage (since removed – cached page)
Read MoreAgainst Juvenile Sex Offender Registration
Catherine Carpenter (Southwestern Law School) was a keynote speaker at the recent RSOL Conference in Los Angeles. Her excellent presentation can be viewed here. This is the paper she is referencing in her workshop. Download it here
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