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| Juvenile sex offender numbers on rise |
| By WREG |
| Published: 11/17/2003 |
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The docket at Shelby County, Tenn. Juvenile Court is filled with names of children under 18, charged with sex crimes. We usually only hear about their juvenile offenses if they are charged as an adult. In 2002 police arrested 132 juveniles for rape, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated rape and one of the most common charges, rape of a child under 13 years old by another child. Some juvenile sex offenders are held in detention facilities. Some are not. Each case is handled based on the age of the children involved, mental health evaluations and the aggravated nature of the offense. Lieutenant Wilks of Shelby County Juvenile Court says, "If incarceration is deemed necessary then we'll do that. But first we're going to try to rehabilitate a child and that's the uniqueness of the juvenile system. Children have special needs." If a judge decides a juvenile sex offender must be detained, after awhile that juvenile may be eligible to go back home and even back into a classroom. Those convicted of sex offenses are allowed in with other students once they're released from custody. Only a handful of people are made aware of their past. They are the principal and teachers who have direct contact with the sex offender. The problem however is this policy is self policing just like the adult sex offender registry. Tennessee law leaves it up to sex offenders to put their own names on the registry. It is up to the parents to disclose information about the juvenile's past to the school district. Otherwise, the school has no way of knowing. However, court records show the greatest chance of a child being sexually assaulted is by a juvenile they know, not a stranger. A lot of the responsibility of keeping kids safe lies with parents. Wilks says, "Watch them all the time. Keep them supervised. Know what is going on with them. Know what they're looking at." Wilks says kids are what they absorb and it's up to parents to screen what they're absorbing. Juvenile Court officers believe the rise in the number of sex crimes committed by those under 18 is related to the growing exposure of kids to the Internet and other media. |
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