Video: Crimes Committed By Children

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – It seems we’re hearing about more pre-teens arrested for violent crimes.

From the hold up of a pizza delivery person in Columbus, to this past weekend when an 11 year-old is accused of trying to rob a man, who gave him a ride in Amory.

That case is now pending in Monroe County Youth Court.

The rules of youth court are different and records are sealed in pretty much all cases, so the serious crimes aren’t always known publicly.

Even veteran law enforcement officers can be shocked when a kid is arrested, but how often does it happen?

Rare, is the answer Amory Police Chief Ronnie Bowen gives.

“A stone that’s been turned over, that’s never been, so I don’t know, it’s totally different.”

Bowen has been in law enforcement for almost forty years, but even this is new territory for him.

“You know, sometimes we have arrested juveniles with knives, things like that, but actually a firearm, at 11 years of age, and then have it in a commission of a crime, it’s not just that they possessed it, you know, they’re trying to commit a crime with it, never seen it.”

That’s the same response of retired youth court counselor, Patricia Harris. During her 35 years, she dealt with a handful of children facing felonies, but never one involving an 11-year old trying to commit armed robbery.

“The age is getting lower of serious offenses, but we’ve always had a range of ages. The younger ones, obviously for in cordial behavior, a parent would come in and say, I need help.”

She says there’s just as many reasons children commit crimes, as there are children who do.

“You can’t target one specific thing and say this is the cause of it. There are a merit of causes. Poverty obviously is an exacerbating cause. A single parent home is, simply because even though that parent may be the best parent in the world, there’s a lot of extra stress there.”

Harris says any child who has an offense with a firearm is looked at more seriously in youth court.

“Once you are ten years of age, and can be charged with a delinquent, you can be sentenced to the state training school, which is pretty much the maximum that can be done in youth court.”

In the state of Mississippi, if a child is 13 years old, they can be charged as an adult, if they commit an offense with a deadly weapon.