SUPREME COURT

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16048, 5 February 1918, Page 3

SUPREME COURT

AUCKLAND SESSIONS. THE CONTROL OF CHILDREN. vbh rare's association. AUCKLAND, Feb. 4. The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court opened to-day. In bis charge to the Grand Jury, Mr. Justice Stringer said that it was satisfactory to note a inark&d decrease in the or sexual offences against young girls, which had formed such a deplorable feature of previous calendars. He was firmly convinced that these offences were due to the look of proper supervision and control by parents. It certainly Was a fact tfyat young people wore allowed to. Wander about the Streets at night without the attendance of a responsible person. He hoped that the diminution in • this olaSs of offence Was an indication that parents at test had come to a propeivjSenso of their responsibility. One offence on the list was illustrative of what he had been saying With regard to the need for strict control. In this case tWo children Were concerned—one a little girl about five, and the other a boy 6f seven. The evidence showed l , that the children had been picked up in the street by & man, who had taken them to an unfrequented place, and had Sent the boy away to get sweets. Having got the girl by herself, it was alleged that he committed an offence against her. There was another charge against the man of having committed an offence of a similar nature in a picture theatre. / Thomas ReWo was sentenced to three years’ hard labon* for the forgery of a' withdrawal order on the Auckland Savings Bank, and, uttering the same to au assistant. Accused was Warned that for the next offence he would be declared a habitual criminal. • A coloured man, William Scarboro, on a charge of breaking and entering, - with intent to commit a crime, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years’ hard labour, and was declared a habitual criminal for the third time.