Children under 14 who by law are too young to face prosecution are being exploited by adults to commit crimes on their behalf, including theft and drug trafficking, government welfare agency Appoġġ has warned. The trend has developed following amendments to the Criminal Code enacted in 2014, when the age of criminal responsibility was raised from nine years to 14. Appoġġ sounded the warning when this newspaper enquired about underage crime in the wake of allegations that a 13-year-old student had sexually abused a female classmate in a State secondary school. A spokeswoman for the welfare agency said they had encountered cases of adults "taking advantage" of the amendments to the Criminal Code by involving minors under 14 in criminal activity. The cases included theft and drug trafficking. Incidents of underage criminality tackled by Appoġġ also involved vandalism, turbulent relationships with parents, partners and others, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-identity crises, petty crime, school absenteeism and expulsions, she added. In such circumstances, Appoġġ provides a number of programmes such as Youth in Focus, Looked after Children, Adolescent Day Programme and E4L, which...
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