Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Xilabar the Dice Goblin @dice.camp 1mo ago

How long could a kid be sent to juvie for trespassing on museum property i proximity to a robbery?

I'm working on a scene in a book where a 10-year-old girl is arrested right after stealing and handing off the macguffin, but due to good teamwork there is only enough evidence left behind to charge her with trespassing. Considering that it can easily be deduced that she had *something* to do with the stolen macguffin, how long could a judge put her in juvie?

9 comments

No idea, but it might be important to add in which country the story takes place.
- @leave_it_blank
  Fantasy setting, gonna be inspired by America because that's what I know. Main change is that lawyers are, by nature of the magic system, always wizards. The actual story takes place in magic school, and this isn't the main character so the trial isn't going to be given much attention.
  
  @Shkshkshk @leave_it_blank
  An important bit of context for "based on America" these days: is this America-alike being run by orange Voldemort already?
Location matters, most western democracies have a minimum age for criminal liability and 10 years old would be considered too young to face criminal justice
- @Ziggurat
  Huh. I never considered that. I think i need to rework her backstory a bit, since I wrote that she'd already been to juvie once in 2nd grade when she turned the school bully into a speedbump. If there's a minimum age for criminal liability, what would happen to that murder charge?
It would depend on where the book is based as trespass will likely range from pay a fine to a couple months in jail.

If the book lawyers can get the charge dropped from theft to trespass, they can likely get the sentence lowered to something meaningless.
For context, the macguffin in question is something like a cross between the Millenium Puzzle and the Lament Configuration. It takes a powerful mind and will to solve it, and the sort of people who are drawn to it will do great things—terrible, yes, but great. It's reasonable to assume this 10-year-old middle-class white girl stole it because she's going to grow up to be the next Voldemort, so I think its reasonable for the judge to throw the book at her.
I don't know anything on this topic, so with a grain of salt, might I suggest Child Welfare Services could get involved to figure out why the 10-year-old is tending towards such delinquent behavior at such an early age?

9 comments