Juvenile justice reform advocates nationwide are watching the Slender Man case in Waukesha, where two 12-year-old girls stabbed a classmate 19 times in an effort to please the fictional horror character. Now 13, the girls will be tried as adults and face up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Tina Freiburger, chair of the criminal justice department in UWM’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, is the author of the soon-to-be-released book Race and Ethnicity in the Juvenile Justice System. Here, she discusses Wisconsin’s harsh treatment of juvenile offenders and why the Slender Man case — unusual as it is — matters to all.
Defense attorneys pushed to have the Slender Man case tried in juvenile, rather than adult court. Why does it matter where the case is heard?
Juvenile court focuses on the needs of the juvenile, not the crime; the court’s main goal is rehabilitation. The adult system focuses on the offense, with a greater emphasis on punishment.
Juveniles who are tried and sentenced as adults often begin serving their sentences in the juvenile system and are later moved to an adult prison, sometimes at a young age. Research has shown that juvenile offenders who serve time in adult facilities are more likely to be sexually and physically assaulted, more likely to commit suicide, and more likely to become hardened criminals.
Are children as young as 12 usually tried as adults?
No, the Wisconsin justice system usually doesn’t consider someone an adult until they are 17. But, children as young as 10 can be charged as adults in some circumstances.
Judges can send cases involving 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds to adult court if they meet certain criteria. A 14-year-old would have to be charged with a certain drug, violent, or property crime to have his or her case moved. For example, a 14-year-old who committed a burglary can be charged as an adult only if he or she was armed, used an explosive, or committed battery during the burglary.
Teens 15 and older can have their cases moved regardless of the charge.
The Slender Man case is different because it involved a statutory exclusion offense, so it was filed first in adult court. This Wisconsin law requires children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for a small number of crimes. In this case, the girls are charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide — they tried to kill someone.
Attorneys sought a reverse waiver; they wanted the judge to send the case to juvenile court, which he refused to do.
How does Wisconsin compare to other states?
It’s harsh. Wisconsin is one of only 17 states that allows juveniles age 15 and over to be waived to the adult court for any offense.
Furthermore, housing juveniles with adults leads to worse outcomes, but it does happen. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Wisconsin houses about 30 juvenile offenders in adult facilities at any time.
How can the decision — juvenile or adult criminal justice system — affect a juvenile in years to come?
In the juvenile system, records are sealed and not open to the public. Adult records, however, are open to the public. Having records openly available can affect juveniles’ access to jobs, housing and even federal funding for college, all of which are linked to reducing recidivism.
Research finds that juveniles sentenced as adults are more likely to commit additional crimes than those who remain in the juvenile system. They are also more likely to commit more serious offenses.
Remember, these decisions affect not only young people charged with attempted homicide, but the 14-year-old charged with a drug crime. When we talk about trying kids as adults, we’re not talking just about murder cases. We’re giving up on kids when we say punishment is our only option and there is no hope for rehabilitation. That’s an issue at the heart of this case and why we should care.
