A recent case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could prove important in determining how future criminal prosecutions of juveniles for sex-based offenses will take place. So far, cases of sexual abuse by minors have been largely relegated to state courts, but a recent appeal brought by the defense attorney for a 10-year-old boy who was found guilty in federal court of aggravated sexual abuse has raised questions about whether such prosecutions should continue in the future.

In the current case before the Ninth Circuit, a 10-year-old boy was found delinquent (meaning guilty in the juvenile justice system), of sexually abusing five young boys between the ages of five and seven. The boy was convicted under a broadly written federal law which makes it a crime to engage in any sexual contact, regardless of whether force is employed, with a child younger than 12. The boy’s attorney argues that the law never clearly states how old an offender must be to be found guilty. For their part, prosecutors argue that the age of the offender is irrelevant. The boy’s attorney claims that when no force is alleged, as in his client’s case, prosecution of minors often results in an unjust verdict; with young children facing lifelong penalties for sexual offenses they were too young to fully understand.

Experts say that the case in question concerns one of, if not the youngest person ever to be prosecuted for a federal sex crime. Though the offender is extremely young, the reality is that sex crimes are not uncommon for minor offenders. In fact, a federal survey found that of all sex crimes against minors that are reported to law enforcement agencies an astounding 36 percent were committed by other minors. Out of this group, one in eight juvenile offenders was under the age of 12.

Aside from legal issues raised by the prosecution of such young children, child psychologists have raised questions about the usefulness of such prosecutions given that in most cases children under 12 who engage in sexually exploitive behavior do so because they themselves have been abused or exposed to sexual acts early in life. For these people intensive therapy and family intervention are usually what is required, not the public embarrassment and lifelong shame of a criminal prosecution.

Something that comes as a surprise to many people is that young offenders can not only face criminal prosecution, but even be forced to register as sex offenders. If the Ninth Circuit affirms the conviction of the 10-year-old boy it will mean that he must register as a sex offender, limiting where he and his family can live and where he eventually is able to work. The boy’s attorney argues that such a result is clearly unjust and goes against the stated goals of the juvenile justice system, which is to rehabilitate young offenders.

Another complicated issue raised by juvenile sex crime prosecutions is how to determine which party is the victim and which is the offender. In a recent case out of Utah, the state’s Supreme Court overturned charges against a 13-year-old girl who was accused of engaging in consensual sex with a 12-year-old boy. The twist is that the 12-year-old had also been charged with the same crime. The Supreme Court said that the reciprocal charges were absurd and that for such prosecutions to take place in the future there needed to be a clear demonstration that one party was a victim and the other party the perpetrator.

Attorneys everywhere, including criminal lawyers in Minneapolis, MN, will be carefully watching the outcome of the Ninth Circuit case as it is viewed as an important indicator of how such prosecutions should be handled in the future.

Source: “Federal Youth Case on Trial,” by Zusha Elinson, published at WSJ.com