PEORIA —In August, a 17-year-old was arrested after police said he and others were seen on a doorbell camera barging into a house and then stealing a car.
The teensallegedly followed a woman home and,armed with what the victim thought was a gun, took her car keys. Two of the three authorities say were involved were under 17, considered juveniles in the eyes of the law.
The alleged armed robbery and car theftis indicative of juveniles committing more serious offenses, experts say.
Gun possession, stolen cars and robberies were among the top offenses charged within the juvenile division of Peoria County Circuit Court in 2021. So were aggravated batteries to school employees.
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The county has seen two minors tried and convicted for murder within the past five years.Last year, one 17-year-old was charged with murder in connection with a homicide at a gas station on Mother's Day. Two other teens were arrested while 17 for alleged involvement in homicides, but they turned 18 by the time murder charges were formally filed.
The county's top prosecutor saysthe more that children are exposed to, the more possibilities exist for them to get into trouble.
"If these kids grow up in a home, there they are exposed to guns, drugs,no family structure, and it’s no wonder they are part of the criminaljustice system," State's Attorney Jodi Hoos said.
These crimes are becoming more common in juvenile court
Hoos saidthe number of juvenile cases in three particular areas hasincreased.
One is possession of a handgun by a person under 18. In Illinois, it's illegalto have a firearm unless you are 21 or older.
Hoos said when she started in the state's attorney's office, it was rare to see young people with guns or shooting guns. In 2010, she said, the office recorded 10 such cases. By2019, there were 45.
"So that shows you a clear trajectory upwards," Hoos said.
Back then, most of the violent offenses were done by people in their late teens or early 20s. Today, she says, it's not uncommon among those between 14 and 16.
Simply put, Hoossaid, "guns are in the hands of younger and younger individuals."
Stolen cars are another example. Only one juvenile was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle in 2010. By 2016, there were 24, and by 2019, that number rose to 52, Hoos said.
It's not just the number of offenses but also the way they are being committed that has changed, she said.
"Ten years ago, it was the neighbor's kid going for a joy ride. They usually located the vehicle and things were fine. Now, we are seeing well-organized and well-orchestrated break-ins at car lots," Hoos said. "They are being driven there by adults, and they are dropping off juveniles at the lot. They steal the fobs and take a dozen at a time.
"They know that a juvenile gets probation." she said.
In the case of the break-in and car theft caught on camera, the assailants fled in thevictim’s vehicle.
Armed robbery is the third example Hoos cites. In 2010, there were none, but in 2019there were seven. She cautioned, however, that those numbers don't include juveniles automatically transferred to adult court due to the charge and their age.
And there's another trend.
"Historically, we didn't see girls getting involved in fights at school, picking up gun cases, mob actions or fights with teachers. Now, we see it all the time," the prosecutor said.
But it's not only a Peoria problem, she said. Violent crime is up across the nation, whether it involvesadults or juveniles.
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In addition to Peoria's record number of homicides last year, Louisville, Kentucky,surpassed its previous totals on record. So didIndianapolis and Philadelphia.
That said, fewer cases are making it into juvenile court overall.Hoos and Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz say they're typically not charging for relatively minor offenses such as shoplifting, petty theft anddisorderly conduct.
Umholtz noted that some of those items—shoplifting, for example — now are charged in some municipalities as ordinance violations. And he cites fewer drug-related cases after the decriminalization of cannabis.
'It's hard not to feel like we, or the system, failed them'
Chandra Justice worked as a public defender in juvenile delinquency court for adecade but hasn't practiced therefor several years. A colleague, Maggi Wettstein, has been the courtroom's public defender for the past six years.
The two agree things have changed. The ages of Wettstein's clients areskewing younger, closer to 15 than in the past.
"The types of crimes I'm seeing nowadays are more car thefts, unlawful possession of stolen vehiclesand possession of stolen firearms," Wettsteinsaid. "Generally speaking, I see very few misdemeanors charged in juvenile court.
Justice agreed, saying when she was in court, there were fewer children under 15, and if so, she said, they were usually charged with domestic incidents. Girls were even rarer, she said, and rarely charged with a violent offense.
Wettstein says her caseload of girls has held steady, and it's still less than 10% of the overall total.
Of the serious offenses Justice saw, most involved armed robbery or gun possession. But, Justice noted, kids mostly weren't doing the actual shootings when she was in juvenile court. Many of those charged with such offenses were repeat offenders.
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Justice said during her tenure, many children were involved in specific, highly structured programs such as Juvenile Drug Court and ReDeploy, a state program aimed at giving repeat offenders a second chance via an intensive probation period.
“These programs required weekly meetings and check-ins by the juveniles. There was a lot of micromanagement to keep the juveniles in line and accountable. Over time, funding ended, programs shut down and everything became understaffed and under-resourced,” she said.
Wettstein said ReDeploy's funding dried up three years ago. The program was seen by some judges as a last resort before juvenile prison. Drug court for teens has also gone away, and with marijuana legalized for adults, fewer cases are charged among youths, she added.
It's those types of programs, both say, that are important for monitoring youths. By keeping tight control over the children who are on probation or pre-trial release, the hope is that it will provide enough structure for their lives to enablepositive changes.
“It’s hard not to feel like we, or the system, failed them. I often wonder if there was something more that I, or the system, could’ve done to prevent further offenses from occurring, or if a client’s life circ*mstances, family structureand peer groups will always prevail over rehabilitation efforts,” Justice said.
Balancing justice and rehabilitation in the courtroom
Judge Frank Ierulli presides over the juvenile delinquency courtroom in Peoria County and prioritizes rehabilitation.
"We have to do everything we can to get these kids on the right path. If you don't believe in rehabilitation, then you have to believe that a productive citizen is worth far more to the community than a person who is incarcerated and the taxpayers have to foot that bill."
And that's his approach. When he speaks to the children who are before him, he talks more in common English and not legalese about what's happening.
Many of the hearings are now via Zoom. Ierulli has said that he wants, for the most part, routine hearings done over the computer.
Ierulli isn't seeing cases of shoplifting or vandalism or stealing another kid's bike.
"What I am seeing are children with guns andchildren committing acts of violence against parents, teachers and other kids," he said.
Recently, a13-year-old boy appeared before Ierulli for making threats at his middle school. He allegedly told a group of students after a verbal spat that he would come back "strapped and loaded."
With the statement coming at the same time as a fatal shooting at a high school in suburban Detroit, officials were alarmed, and the boy was arrested. He is being held at the county's juvenile detention center.
No child is perfect, and people make mistakes or exercise poor judgment but, the judge said, when people commitcrimes, there needs to be accountability.
"We also can't forget they are children. We should try to make sure they can continue their education and realize what they did was wrong," he said.
How does juvenile court differ?
A key phrase often heard within the juvenile court system is "court services." That's lingo for getting a child the help he or she needs, be it anger management, counseling, medical issues or even tutoring. The goal is to prevent the child from reoffending.
Prison is a last resort, and even if a youngster goes to juvenile prison, they can only be held until their 21st birthday. Under state law, a child has to be at least 13 years old to be considered for a prison term.
Another difference from adult court is thatrecords are sealed to protect the children, so a petty theft or a stolen car might not hound them for the rest of their lives. The hearings and proceedings are closed to the public.
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Moving juvenile cases into adult court
Some minors can be tried as adults if the crime is serious enough. In recent years, the state has worked to reduce thenumber of crimes eligible for that. In most instances, only the most serious cases are moved to adult court —shootings, homicides andsexual assaults.
For a juvenile's caseto be transferred, the state must file a petition and a judge decides if the case merits it. Murder charges are an exception, with teens 16 or olderautomaticallytransferred.
Quentin Parks, the 17-year-oldin the alleged home invasion and car theft, is one of those minors. Recently, his juvenile case was moved up to adult court.He was indicted Nov. 30 by a grand jury on charges of home invasion, aggravated robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Two others, a 16-year-old boy and Brandon McGrew, 18, also were arrested in the case. Charges remain pending in juvenile court against the 16-year-old, and McGrew faces a charge of home invasion in felony court.
In ruling recently that Parks should be moved out of juvenile court, Ierulli noted his past record, which includeda 2020 kidnapping case in which he took a car with a baby in the back and fled the area. Both were quickly recovered.
Parks, the judge noted, had cases in Knox County for trespass to a motor vehicleandpossession of a stolen motorvehicle and for twice possessing a stolen car in 2020 in Peoria County.
He'd been sentencedto a juvenile detention facility at least twice, once from a Knox County case and once from a Peoria County case, and that didn't change his behavior.
"I have seen no true change that wouldlead me to believe that there is areasonable likelihoodhe will be rehabilitated beforethe expiration of the juvenile court jurisdiction (at age 21)," the judge said.
A carrot-and-stick approach to behavior for kids in juvenile court
In 2020, Gov. JB Pritzker announced his desire for further reforms, including increasingcommunity-based interventions and re-entry programs as a way to keep kids from being incarcerated.
Ierulli is trying his own version of that here. Every Friday, he meets with youths who have been convicted within the juvenile system or whose cases are pending. He gets a report on how the kids are doing in school, at the county's Juvenile Detention Centerand how well they are abiding by the rules.
He takes the time to talk to the minors.He asks pointed questions, but it's more relaxed than one might see in adult court.
Do well, and a child can be released for the weekend or longer. Don't abide by the rules, and that child stays in custody.The key components are school attendance and passing grades.
"This takes away all the excuses for not going to school. They arerequired to go to school every day that school is in session," Ierullisaid. "My objective is to get them through high school."
On a recent Friday, Ierulli held his Zoom reviews of children he has allowed on electronic monitoring — out of custody, but either on home detention or under tight supervision. One girl who had been on home detention got a reprieve and had that lifted after the judge heard she was making A's in school.
After Ierulli told her about the ability to leave her home, the girl squealed in delight and shook her hands in joy. The judge praised her efforts and urged her to continue to improve.
But it's not all roses and rewards. Another boy was in trouble with the judge for not obeying instructions to stay away from a friend's house and for showing up late to a hearing. The house he visited had recently been shot up. While the boy said he didn't know that, the judge said it was no excuse.
"You were in court when I told you to stay away from that house," Ierulli said. "Do you understand?
"Yes, sir,"the boy said glumly.
Hoos gets the frustration of some who might see a child arrested and then back on the street a week later. Having the entire system closed to the public makes explaining things hard.
"I'm not for opening up the juvenile courts, but I do think that keepingjuvenile cases in the dark isn't good either," she said. "Then there are no consequences andthe public doesn’t understand what is happening.
"There is a lack of understanding on the part of the general public. Because that's how the juvenile court system is structured. That's a problem, but that's not to say that we need to open it up as on the adult side."
Advocating for change
Ierulli said he's excited about a new program with the Wraparound Center called the Juvenile Justice Advocate program. It's done in conjunction with Peoria PublicSchools. It's a combination of courtroom advocate, life coach, tutor and friend all wrapped into one.
"It's one of the most important programs implemented in the past five years,"Ierulli said."It will have an enormous long-term impact on the community. Most of the young people I see in my courtroom are not going to school regularly. This program pours resources onto the children or students that need it the most."
Advocates, he said, pick up the students who can't get to schooland bring them home. They'll help with home, bring them computers and also bring them to court-required appointments so they stay on track. The idea, the judge said, is to keep their education going while they are trying to improve themselves through court-mandated programs.
Derrick Booth, who heads social and emotional learning within the Peoria school district at the Wraparound Center, said the idea came about from "just trying to do something creative in finding a way to connect with students who might be having some challenges."
"The role of a juvenile justice advocate is to make sure the students are enrolled in school. We make sure they are complying withtheir court orders and that they are on track to graduate. After that, we want to make them connect to a career or college."
Booth said the idea is to build relationships and remove all barriers.
In the first two years of the program, counselors worked with 98 high schoolers, 20 of whom were girls. Of that 98, 26 weren't even enrolled in school and only 26 otherswere on track to graduate. Today, those who weren’t enrolled have been and the number of kids on track to graduate with their class grew to 56, Booth said.
"Reducing crime andinvesting in these types of projects on the front end will help to reduce the cost of incarceration and victims services on the back end," he said. “… There are only three places you usually wind up without a diploma, the courts, the unemployment line and the grave.”
But what about recidivism?
According to Booth, in the first year, only 26 of the 114 original participants faced any new charges. Nineteen othershad probation violations, but those were handled without new charges being added.
That gave the initial group a rate of 39%, well under a reported three-year average of 87% statewide, according to theIllinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
After two years, that recidivism rate is closer to 85%, more in line with the average. That rate includes not just new charges but also instances of a probation violation or a missed court date.
Improving graduationrates will reduce crime and also help to save taxpayers money.
"Reducing crime andinvesting in these types of projects on the front end (will) reduce the cost of incarceration and victims' services on the back end," Boothsaid.
Wettstein said that it's sometimes hard to wrap one's head around the concept that most of these kids, even the repeat offenders, are just teenagers.
"For example, I have a client I see regularly at a store that I shop at all of the time. This individual had multiple cases, went through some pretty rough situations personally, but is doing just fine right now and pursuing higher education, raising kids, and works full time," she said. "There's no way to make really good overarching statements about the system, who it works for or whether it works at all.
"Statistically speaking, (her client) should not be where they are at this point. Is that beating the odds? I don't know, maybe. Or, did they just do stupid stuff as a teenager?"
