The sad reality of children and adolescents who commit crimes

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Behind the wave of robberies under the “piranha” modality that occurred between last March and April in the Nueva Córdoba area and the Sarmiento park, in the provincial capital, an organization operated with well-marked and identifiable roles.

The data comes from the judicial investigation conducted by the prosecutor María Celeste Blasco. She managed to establish that the band was made up of more than 30 people, and that more than half were no more than 15 years old.

Statements from defendants, raids, analysis of detainees’ cell phones and interviews with witnesses, in addition to a detailed study of the dynamics of each robbery, allowed us to put together the puzzle of the organization and its modus operandi.

It is known, among other things, the days and places of the meeting, the instructions they received, the different roles that were distributed for monitoring and attacking the victims, as well as the way to circulate the stolen objects among the participants, before his discard.

The progress of the investigation allowed the arrests of eight people of legal age, eight punishable minor adolescents and more than 20 non-punishable minors. The first arrests were made under the classification of “aggravated robbery due to the participation of minors.” Then, when it was certain that it was an organization, the title changed to “qualified robbery in a town and in a gang.”

It remains to discover, for now, the identity of the top boss. In any case, shortly the accusations will be firm and it is feasible that the defendants will be given an abbreviated trial. The penalties that they could receive set a minimum of three years in prison, for which they would become effective.

Beyond this, the sad reality that this story reveals is that of the children and minor adolescents involved. Above all, those who are not punishable, those who are under 16 years of age. They are boys who are not in school, who already have a criminal record prior to this investigation and who in many cases do not have a family support structure. For this reason, there have been quite a few fathers or mothers who, when informed of the arrest, stated that they preferred that they continue in that condition.

One of those mothers, in an interview with this newspaper, was very eloquent. She confessed her impotence before her 12-year-old son, who had already been detained in a juvenile institution before falling in with the “piranha” robbery gang: “I don’t know what else to do with him. He suddenly became big and I couldn’t control him anymore.

The woman came to link the organization with the retail sale of cocaine and marijuana. From her vision, several of the members would be addicts who steal to have access to what they want to consume.

It is obvious that the State has an arduous task ahead. Rescuing these children and youth will require much more than rebuilding social and family ties. For them, the rights of the child are not even a pipe dream, but a sick joke.