Almost 30,000 children under the age of 10, and over 220,000 kids ages 10 to 12, have been arrested and treated like “mini-adults” between 2013 and 2017, ABC News reports.
The FBI collected and compiled the data on arrests of minors between the years 2013 and 2017, which showed that 26,966 children under 10 were arrested in the U.S., and 228,017 kids between the ages of 10 and 12 were. The number of arrests during this time span peaked in 2013 with 6,394 arrests and has steadily declined since then, reaching a low of 4,068 in 2017.
Most states, 34, do not have a minimum age for delinquency, according to the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and most of the ones that do set that age at 10. 24 states do not have a minimum age to transfer cases from juvenile court to adult court.
Last week, two children, one 6 and one 8, were arrested in Orlando, Florida, with the 6-year-old being put in handcuffs, had her fingerprints and mug shot taken, and charged with battery, according to ClickOrlando. The charges against the 6-year-old were later dropped, and the officer who arrested the children was later suspended.
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