DELINQUENT CHILDREN

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27533, 15 December 1954, Page 14

DELINQUENT CHILDREN

Palmerston North Cases PARENTS APPEAR IN COURT (New Zealand Press Association) PALMERSTON NORTH, Dec 14 Saswwss Of a delinquent child. One of the boys, aged 16, was SUM had also been involved in breaking and entering offences, were P* acad under the supervision of the Child Welfare Division for two yeais. The other seven boys were left for their parents to deal with, S ood reports having been received on their home circumstances. When the girl’s parents were before the Court, the prosecution said that the girl had apparently been the cause of most of the trouble, having inat.least some of the cases been the instigating party and in all a very willing part- ” When the Magistrate asked the girl’s parents what they had in mind to "put her back on the rails, they said that since they had found out about her activities they had not let her go out alone, and suggested that the shock of the present proceedings would be sufficient to’ prevent a recurrence of the trouble. The Magistrate, however, considered that merely to curtail the girl s liberty was too negative an approach to the problem of her reformation, and held that the assistance of the child welfare officer was necessary. When the parents of the boys were brought before him later in the day, Magistrate asked the police why they had not charged the boys themselves. He said that nothing in the reports indicated that the boys’ parents were to blame for what had occurred. “When you bring complaints against the parents only,” he said, “I can do nothing about the boys. It is no use for me to dress down the parents unless you can show me that they are blameworthy.” To a question by the Magistrate, the district child welfare officer (Mr K. J. Watson) said that in practically every case the boys’ home conditions were good. The prosecutor explained that under the Child Welfare Act there was no provision for the boys to be charged with delinquency. They could have been charged criminally with indecent assault, but the police had preferred not to charge them in this way because the girl was considered the instigator, with the boys simply making response to her acts of invitation. Criminal Charges “Undesirable’’ The Magistrate agreed that it would have been undesirable to make criminal charges against the boys. He added that he understood that the principal of the school attended by most of the boys had already taken physical action which appeared appropriate in the circumstances.

To the parents of those of the boys who were concerned in sexual delinquency only, he said: “All of you are responsible people, and I think you know what to do about the position. A great deal depends on both parents, but I think it is very important when a boy has got off the rails like this that the father should put in a lot of time with him, and should get him interested in sports and other healthy activities.”

In these cases, the Magistrate said, he thought it would be suitable to leave the control of the boys to their parents, who appeared capable of dealing with the position without assistance from the Child Welfare Division. • The parents of the three boys who had been guilty not only of sexual delinquency, but also of other mischief, were then called before the Court, as well as those of two other boys who had not been involved in the sex cases. Three of these five boys pleaded guilty to having wilfully damaged a first-aid outfit in a carriage in the railway yards. Three of them pleaded guilty to breaking and entering the premises of Market Gardeners, Ltd., in King street and committing theft therein on November 13, and two of them pleaded guilty to breaking and entering the same premises two days later. In these cases, too, the Magistrate said that the position called for more positive action on the part of the parents than just keeping the boys at home.

“It is essential to get these boys back on to the straight and narrow path,” he said. “They are at a critical age, and they must be handled properly.” The three boys who had been involved in both sexual and other mischief were placed under the supervision of the Child Welfare-Officer for two years, and the other two boys were dismissed with a reprimand. The hearing was attended by the newspapers, and at the conclusion of the hearing the Magistrate invited questions from reporters to “clear up anv matters not fully understood.” The Magistrate said that the press would be permitted to attend future sittings of the Court.

ASSAULTS ON CHILDREN

MAGISTRATE DEPLORES FREQUENCY “ SEVERE PENALTIES NECESSARY ” (New Zealand Press Association) PALMERSTON NORTH, Dec. 14. The “disturbing frequency” of sex offences involving children which came before the Courts at Palmerston North was twice referred to by Mr L. M. Inglis, S.M., today—once in the Children's Court and once in the Magistrate’s Court. In the Children’s Court the Magistrate was dealing with a 16-year-old boy charged with indecent assault. In admitting the boy to probation for 18 months without entering a conviction the Magistrate warned him that if he did not avoid this sort of behaviour he might later find himself in serious trouble. Even if the girl involved was bad he should not have encouraged The Magistrate mentioned the heavy penalties he had had to impose in recent months on persons who had comnuAtel s< t x offences on children, and said the frequency of such cases made severe penalties necessary. In the Magistrate Court Mr Inglis sentenced Maurice William Butler, aged 24, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on an eight-year-old boy, to 12 months Imprisonment with hard labour. The complaint concerned the toward the boy truck the laMer WaS riding to b£s The Magistrate said that Butler was l«^ y n n ° t to » be charged with indecent assault, an offence of which a distressCtourt b<!r WaS coming before the ’’While punishment Is not likely to do much good to the man concerned ’’ he said. I think I have a duty to put such men out of circulation for a while I don t see how the probation officer can supervise this sort of thing.”