It’s a shocking thought that children in the Maitland area are being intentionally led down the path to a life of crime.
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Police have revealed that burglars linked to a string of break-ins across Rutherford have recently recruited children as their young apprentices.
After the thieves perform their first break-in and cast their eyes over a premises, they send the children in for a second bight of the cherry to steal more items, police say.
Investigators have arrested a group of people, including six juveniles, in connection to the spate of incidents.
Items stolen during the thefts range from a washing machine to 600 law books.
The youngest child arrested was 11 years old – still of primary school age.
The speculation is that the kids have been enlisted to take advantage of how children are dealt with under the Young Offenders’ Act, which allows police to release offenders without charges or other ramifications if they deem it to be appropriate.
Whatever the reason, the actions of the adults roping these kids into committing criminal acts are despicable.
They are taking advantage of impressionable young people and encouraging them to break the law.
Aside from the obvious legal problems this could cause the children, and the impact of having a criminal record at a young age, these adults could very well be placing their young apprentices at risk of physical harm.
When they enter a home, there’s no guarantee that the children won’t get hurt – accidentally or otherwise – by a surprised occupant.
The police breakthrough came after residents, who have had enough of crime in their suburb, gave information to investigators.
“We have had real challenges in the Rutherford area and the community is fed up,’’ said Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector Mitch Dubojski (pictured).
“There are still a lot of people who are proud of their suburb and have been actively helping us out in investigating these crimes. We are grateful for that ongoing assistance.’’
This case shows that community help is a good way to bolster crime prevention in our suburbs.
So if you have information you think might help police investigating this or any other incident in the Maitland or Cessnock area, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and pass it on.
