The boy had been charged with four felonies in less than 13 weeks, his latest arrest coming Monday morning after police say he fled a stolen car about an hour before sunrise. After the youth was released to his mother following each arrest, a judge and attorneys on both sides of the case had seen enough. It was time for the boy, 12, to be taken away from his home.
With his parents trailing him, the knit cap he wore into the courtroom now swinging in his right hand, the red-eyed child was escorted by sheriff's deputies to a juvenile detention facility after a hearing Thursday in Albany County Family Court. Where the child was taken, how long he'll be there and details of the hearing were unclear. "All I can say is that he is not going home tonight," said Sandra McCarthy, the boy's court-appointed attorney. "He's going somewhere safe."
The boy's case offers a glimpse into how law enforcement, attorneys and family court judges handle repeat offenders of serious crimes at such a young age. It's a careful balancing act that seeks to rehabilitate, not punish, a child while simultaneously keeping the public safe. Taking a child — even one accused of multiple felonies in a short period of time — away from his home is almost always a last resort.
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