A 7-Year-Old Was Accused of a Crime. Is Arresting Him the Answer?

At the forested edge of the Canadian border this spring, state police arrested a person from the hamlet of Brasher Falls, N.Y., population about 1,000. He was charged with rape.

The pain of such crimes often tears small towns apart without rippling beyond their borders. But following the March 23 arrest, news of the arrest ricocheted far beyond the hamlet.

The resident charged with rape was a 7-year-old boy.

Little is known about the circumstances of the arrest, the specifics of the allegations or the case’s disposition. The records of cases involving children are kept private. But in New York, the arrest reignited a discussion about how the justice system deals with so-called juvenile delinquents — children between the ages of 7 and 18 whose cases are heard in family court.

Judges, juvenile justice experts and lawyers who have handled such cases from both sides of the courtroom say arrests traumatize children, ensnare them in the legal system and increase their chance of recidivism. Young children are almost never charged as adults. But arresting and charging them at all, those who study the issue say, ignores the science of brain development and in an attempt to seek justice often achieves the opposite result.

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The 6-year-old dangled his legs above the floor as he sat at the table with his defense attorney.

He was accused of picking a tulip from a yard at his bus stop, his attorney Julie Boyer said, and he was on trial in juvenile court for injury to real property.

The boy's attention span was too short to follow the proceedings, Boyer said, so she handed him crayons and a coloring book.

"I asked him to color a picture," she said, "so he did."

He didn't know it, but no matter what the judge decided, the experience could change the boy's life, from how he sees the court system to increasing his chance of getting into trouble again and being sent to alternative school.

Boyer and others say children that age don't have the mental capacity to understand the juvenile justice process and its consequences. They can't make informed decisions, like whether to talk to police and what to tell them, whether to go to trial and whether to admit to the accusations against them.

The N.C. Juvenile Justice section, part of the state Department of Public Safety, requires parents' involvement, but the accused child is the defendant and is expected to assist in his or her defense.

"Should a child that believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy be making life-altering decisions?" asked New Hanover County Chief District Court Judge Jay Corpening.

The research says no, "even at 10, 11 and some 14-year-olds," explains Corpening, who chairs a state subcommittee studying this issue at the General Assembly's request.

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Daniel Marsh said:

If a child commits a serious crime like murder, Yes they should be treated like Adults after Parents, Police and the Lawyers discuss it in chambers. If there is a School Teacher who knows the child well, they should be included.

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