Minors involved in criminal acts –and even more so if they are sexual offenders– are always under the radar of the administration, regardless of whether or not they are, due to age, unimputable or imputable. At least that is what the General Directorate for Child and Adolescent Care affirms (they follow the stories of children under 14 years of age, who cannot be punished by criminal means) and from the General Directorate of Criminal Execution of the Community and Juvenile Justice, responsible, where appropriate, for the monitoring of those over 14 years of age, with whom internment measures can be adopted
They are children under 14 years of age. Age that they have not yet reached, for example, all those identified for the group rape suffered by a girl in the toilets of the Màgic de Badalona shopping center and 4 of the 8 adolescents who participated in the last group rape of a 13-year-old girl this Saturday in that same city.
In these cases –those who have not yet turned 14– from the administration and through the "Educant en la responsabilitat" program, a study is always made of that inimputable minor to find out their personal and family situation and assess the risk of future criminal conduct. So even if that minor is criminally unscathed for a sexual assault, there is control by the administration.
In sexual assaults committed by children under 14 years of age, the case is always evaluated and the first thing that is investigated, says a spokeswoman for Drets Socials, is whether that person "is in a situation of vulnerability." The role of the family is very important. Without the involvement of the parents, it will be difficult for this precocious criminal to be able to redirect her behavior. So the family of that minor is called to exchange points of view.
In the most serious cases –this is where sexual assaults come in– a therapeutic educational follow-up is initiated for the child under 14 years of age (on average it lasts one year) or other resources are activated to detect all the needs of that person, such as medical attention. in mental health. And if it is detected, in addition to this criminal conduct, a neglect of the minor always remains – it is the most drastic measure – the withdrawal of guardianship from the parents.
From that age the minor can already be punished by criminal means. But the possibility of handing down sentences does not prevent, a spokeswoman for the General Directorate of Criminal Execution informed the Juvenile Community and Justice, "that parallel intensive work be carried out with these sexual offenders" to redirect their behavior while they are serving their sentence.
Juvenile justice technicians work with minors accused of sexual crimes throughout their journey through the judicial universe. They are already there when they arrive at the Prosecutor's Office and they do not abandon the follow-up, they say from juvenile justice, until they have served the sentence imposed by the judge.
In Catalonia there are so-called "mediation teams" that are nothing more than advisors who meet with minors (those over 14 years of age) accused of sexual assault before they set foot in a courthouse. These technicians are usually listened to by judges and prosecutors (they give them information about family environment or criminal and social circumstances) and based on these data, the judicial decision is usually issued.
When the judge dictates a measure of probation with one of these minors, the professionals of the "open medium" of Justice come into action. They are in charge of monitoring that person with freedom of movement and are the first to alert the juvenile judge if that minor does not comply with what is dictated in the resolution in exchange for not entering a center.
In the most serious cases, those that entail a minor's internment in a closed regime in a juvenile justice center, these early sexual offenders are subjected to personalized treatment by professionals with a single objective: to re-educate them.
