When children kill

IT WAS a murder that traumatised the entire country. A week ago, six-year-old Sean Luke was lured away from his Orange Valley, Couva, home by two older boys who offered to take him fishing. Two days later, his battered, naked corpse was discovered in a canefield. He had been sexually molested, tortured and killed.

A post mortem by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald Burris revealed that a sugarcane stalk was inserted into the boy’s body, extending from his rectum to his throat, rupturing his intestines and several major organs. Sean died from internal bleeding.

Just when citizens were processing all the horrifying details of Sean’s agonising death, came word that two teenagers, aged 14 and 16, had been held for questioning in connection with the brutal murder. One of them has reportedly confessed to the murder, giving investigators chilling details of how he and his friend lured the boy to a river to catch fish, then stripped him naked and sodomised him with a cane stalk until he was dead.

It was the second time in recent memory that children had been linked to a brutal killing. The other, on July 11, 1994, also caused widespread alarm when Chuck Attin, who was 16 years old at the time, took part in the rape, torture and murders of Westmoorings residents Candace Scott and Karen Sa Gomes.

In that case Attin and Noel Seepersad forced their way into Scott’s home and over a period of three hours brutalised the two women in the presence of a maid and their three young children.

Post mortems later revealed that the women were strangled. In the case of Scott, there were two stab wounds on the side of her neck along with a deep incised wound which had cut straight through her vocal cords. Attin, originally from Nile Street, Cocorite, who is now 26 years old, was sentenced to be detained at the State’s pleasure because he was a juvenile at the time he committed the murders (see sidebar story). In April 2004, he was sentenced by Justice Herbert Volney to spend 25 years in jail before he could be considered for release. Justice Volney ordered that the sentence begin from February 7, 1997, the date he was convicted for the murders.

In the aftermath of those murders, as is the case with the molestation and murder of Sean, citizens have been expressing shock and outrage. In addition, debate had already started on whether young killers should be sentenced as adults.

While there has been mounting concern in this country about juvenile delinquency, including violence — murders committed by children are rare. However, every single incident elicits passionate responses and raises questions about why such killings occur and how they can be prevented.

Concern about child murderers and how they should be treated under the law has been a focus of debate, not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but around the world where an increasing number of such incidents have been taking place.

One high-profile case that grabbed world attention occurred in England. On the afternoon of February 12, 1993, a surveillance camera at a shopping centre near Liverpool filmed Robert Thompson and Jon Venables as they took two-year-old James Bulger by the hand from outside a butcher’s shop. The toddler’s mother was inside the shop buying meat.

The two boys led Bulger to a nearby railway line. His body was found the next day. He had been beaten, struck with a battery and bricks and left to die.

Thompson and Venables were convicted in November 1993 and ordered to serve a minimum sentence of 15 years. In the United States, murders committed by children, including a spate of school shootings, have been regularly grabbing the headlines.

Headlines highlighted the shooting at the Columbine High School in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, on April 20, 1990. Two masked teenaged students went on a shooting rampage, killing 12 students and a teacher and injuring 23 others, before killing themselves.

According to the experts, there are many things in common among children who commit murder. All are seriously disturbed, with high rates of neuropsychological abnormalities, poor impulse control and school failure.

They all experienced severe family adversities including domestic violence, neglect, abuse, maternal depression and absence of fathers.

The website violentkids.com says there are warning signs from children who kill. These include:

- Cruelty to animals and smaller children.

- Morbid fascination with violence and death.

- Fascination with fire/fire-setting.

- Threats or talk about killing or harming others

- Considered “weird” or dangerous by peers

- Uncontrollable temper tantrums, especially at early ages.

- Narcissistic, thinks others have no rights.

- History of bed wetting.

Some experts are of the view that with good care and psychiatric treatment, juvenile killers do well, can be rehabilitated and do not reoffend in later life. They argue that these facts should govern the way they are treated in the criminal justice system.

In a study entitled “Youth Homicide: Keeping Perspective on How Many Children Kill”, Eric Lotke, who did an extensive study on the subject, concluded that the ideal solution is to prevent children from becoming juvenile murderers.

He wrote: “Delinquent juveniles do not spring up spontaneously, armed and dangerous, onto the streets. They grow slowly from broken families, disorganised neighbourhoods, malfunctioning schools, and unsupervised peer groups.

“This is not to say that all children who grow up in such circumstances will become murderers: most won’t. But those who kill typically start moving in the wrong direction at an early age. It follows that early efforts to point them in the right direction will reduce violence as the kids grow up.” Lotke cited a High/Scope Perry Preschool study which tracked high risk young people over a period of 27 years. The researchers found that early interventions yielded results in the form of reduced crime and social costs.

According to Lotke, other studies showed that skilful intervention by those who play a part in the life of a troubled child, including relatives, teachers and the police — can help steer a child away from criminal involvement. “After school recreation is also helpful, especially for kids who lack supportive families and positive entertainment options. Sports and recreation programmes provide healthy outlets for kids whose time and energy might otherwise go to hanging out, picking fights, breaking windows and maybe someday shooting a gun.”

He added: “A further dimension involves the children’s parents. Many of the risk-factors that describe children who are likely to kill involve their parents: parental drug use, parental unemployment, parental neglect and abuse. Interventions such as drug treatment and job training, as well as a genuine effort to create jobs in every sector of the economy, will help to reduce youth crime and violence.” Lotke pointed out that prevention programmes, while important, cannot displace reliance on traditional law enforcement.