A 7-Year-Old Was Charged With Rape. Experts Say He’s Too Young

BRASHER FALLS, NY — The March arrest of a boy from a tiny town in upstate New York is rekindling a debate over just how young is too young for kids to be branded a criminal.

The boy’s arrest likely rippled through Brasher Falls, a small hamlet of 800 about 18 miles from the U.S.-Canada border in upstate New York. News he had been taken into custody, however, didn’t stop at the town’s borders when the charge was revealed.

At 7 years old, he was charged with rape.

Whatever led to the child’s arrest happened Thanksgiving weekend, the Ottawa Citizen reported. The boy, who was later released from custody, will likely be tried in juvenile court.

Little else is known about the case. In New York, the records of cases involving children are private, according to The New York Times.

But is prosecuting him the answer?

Juvenile justice experts such as Dawne Mitchell, who leads the Legal Aid Society’s juvenile rights practice, say it’s not.

“What we know now is that the science doesn’t support the prosecution of second graders,” Mitchell told The Times.

Branding Kids As Criminals

In February, a 9-year-old girl from Rochester, New York, was handcuffed and thrown into the back of a police car. Before that, her face was doused with pepper spray.

“Please don’t do this to me,” she pleaded with officers.

"You did it to yourself, hon," a female officer replies.

This case, as well as the one in Brasher Falls, is prompting the state of New York to re-examine legislation that would raise the minimum age for prosecution from 7 to 12 years old, according to The Times.

The issue extends far beyond New York.

In fact, 28 U.S. states have no minimum age in place for prosecution, according to Alyson Clements, director of membership and advocacy for the National Juvenile Justice Network.

Here’s what happens because of it:

In Florida, a 6-year-old was arrested for throwing a temper tantrum in school. In North Carolina, another 6-year-old was arrested and taken to court after he picked a tulip while waiting for his bus. In Michigan, a 10-year-old was charged with aggravated assault after throwing a ball that hit and injured a classmate while playing a game similar to dodgeball.

These extreme cases could be linked to the growing presence of police officers in schools, Clements told Patch.

Research into these issues — whether police actually make schools safer or whether their presence harms students — shows that schools with more police tend to have higher arrest and suspension rates, particularly for young students, according to Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization that covers education.

However, researchers couldn’t conclude whether police are the root cause or if it’s simply because officers are present at schools with more challenges.

Still, arrests are happening for what Clements calls “developmentally appropriate behaviors.”

More than 2,500 children under age 10 were arrested in 2019, according to statistics kept by the National Juvenile Justice Network. For kids ages 10-12, that number grows to 36,000.

“While a 6-year-old might be physically acting out, they don’t know it will harm someone,” Clements told Patch. “There’s no intent there.”

Arresting children at such a young age is “traumatizing” for them, according to Dr. Elizabeth Barnert, an associate professor of pediatrics at University of California – Los Angeles.

“Research indicates that children at age 7 likely lack the capacity to comprehend that what they're doing could be considered a crime and the wrongfulness of that act,” Barnert told Patch. “They also are unlikely to understand the consequences in terms of juvenile court proceedings and punishments.”

Science backs up Barnert’s claims.

It isn’t until around age 7 that kids enter what is coined as the “concrete operational period,” according to renowned psychologist Jean Piaget’s four phases of cognitive development. For the next three or four years, children will gain a better understanding of how to approach a problem and consider all the various outcomes.

In the very early stages of this phase, kids only show the beginnings of logical reasoning. In fact, their logical thoughts remain limited to actual physical objects, and most are unable to think abstractly or hypothetically.

“People go to law school for a reason — because the law is complex,” Clements said, “so to expect a 6-year-old to understand the ramifications of their behavior is unreasonable.”

Also, a 2017 report by Human Impact Partners, which examined youth arrests in Michigan, said at least 3 out of every 4 kids in the state’s juvenile justice system had already experienced some form of trauma in their lives.

Exposure to the justice system often causes more trauma for kids, according to the National Juvenile Justice Network. It can also cause physical harm and stigmatization, which only increases their chances of re-offending when they’re older.

The damage is doubly harmful to youth of color, youth with disabilities and LGBTQ+ youth who are overrepresented in the justice system and are regularly forced to confront institutional racism, discrimination and bias, the organization writes.

A Different Approach

The National Juvenile Justice Network is among those working to establish a universal minimum age for prosecution, which would allow no child younger than 14 to face criminal charges.

The advocacy group’s goal is in line with a 2018 call by the United Nations that encouraged countries to adopt an international standard to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14.

Some states have taken action.

Massachusetts, Colorado and Utah have all raised its minimum age to 12. Mississippi also passed a law raising the age at which children can be committed to juvenile facilities from 10 to 12.

Still, an international standard has gained little traction in the United States.

“There are not a lot of 7-year-olds who are getting snagged in some egregious criminal charge,” N. Nick Perry, a New York state assemblyman, told The Times. “If something egregious does not draw the attention to the need to update or change the law, it will hang around, as improper as it is.”

Meanwhile, juvenile justice experts continue to advocate for family-based intervention before prosecution.

Included in the National Juvenile Justice Network’s policy platform is “prevention and pre-arrest diversion.” This involves more mentoring and guidance opportunities, as well as ensuring kids have access to community-based services and programs.

In its publications, the group has called for shifting money from police forces and reinvesting it in health care, education, housing and other resources needed for “positive youth development,” according to its website.

“The first question that should be asked when a kid gets in trouble is why — and then they should get support around the why. This is what a good pre-arrest diversion program can provide,” a 2020 report by the group says.

In the end, children with disruptive behavior deserve support rather than prosecution, UCLA’s Barnert told Patch — support that can usually be provided by a counselor or social worker.

“We need to support children and communities so that children can have the best chance to thrive,” Barnert said.