It’s been said that it takes a village to raise a child. When it comes to juvenile crimes in Connecticut, that village can also contribute to a whole set of risk factors to a child’s choices to participate in criminal behavior.

So, though writing off juvenile crime as youthful indiscretions are quite tempting, understand things are much more complicated than that.

Decades of research have identified a number of consistent risk factors contributing to some of the most common juvenile crimes in Connecticut. Let’s take a closer look…

Is Your Child Considered “At Risk” in Connecticut?

According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, there are handfuls of risk factors for committing juvenile crimes that can be identified as young as six years old. They generally fall under one of five main categories: Individual, Family, School, Peer, and Community.

Individual Risk Factors

For young children, ages six to 11, individual risk factors can be innate — as simple as being male, hyperactivity, dishonesty, and aggression. Later, between 12 and 14, they include factors such as physical violence, substance use, and antisocial behavior.

Family Risk Factors

Among young children, family risk factors can include poor parent-child relationships, neglect, abuse, and separation from parents. As children get older these risk factors can include low parental involvement, poverty, and both discipline that is too harsh or too lax.

School Risk Factors

For young children, a poor attitude about school can be a warning sign while in older kids academic failure is a factor that can influence juvenile crimes

Peer Group Risk Factors

Young children with little to no social ties tend to perpetrate juvenile crimes while older children that are members of a gang or have peers with antisocial tendencies tend to be at risk

Community Risk Factors

Children, no matter age, are at higher risk if they live in a neighborhood that is rife with drugs and crime or if their neighborhood is highly disorganized.

Common Juvenile Crimes in Connecticut

When risk factors come together and a juvenile becomes caught up in the Connecticut juvenile criminal justice system, it is most often for these three offenses:

Possession of Drugs

This is one of the most common juvenile crimes because when juveniles are searched as a group and just one has drugs, often all people in the group are charged with possession. However, to be convicted of possession, the defendant has to be shown to have known the character of the controlled substance, knew the presence of it and had control over it.

Assault

Assault can be anything from threatening school mates to physically beating up another person. The severity of the crime has a bearing on how it is charged. The most common types of assault charged to juveniles in Connecticut include:

• Assault in the first degree – This is a Class B felony. A person is guilty of this felony when there was intent to do cause serious physical harm to another person and can involve a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon. They can also be charged with this felony if there was intent to disfigure the person or cause permanent damage.
• Assault in the second degree – To be found guilty of assault in the second degree, a Class D felony, the defendant must have intended to inflict serious damage to another, cause damage to another with the use of a deadly weapon, or recklessly cause serious physical damage to another utilizing a deadly weapon or other dangerous instruments.
• Assault in the second degree with a firearm – This is a Class D felony. A person is found guilty of this felony when they commit assault in the second degree and threaten or display a firearm during the assault.

Sex Crimes

Juveniles are also commonly charged with sex crimes such as:

• Sexual assault in the First Degree – This can be a Class A or Class B felony. If they compel another to engage in sexual intercourse with them by use of force or threat of force that causes a reasonable person to fear physical injury. It also applies if the person they engaged in intercourse with was under the age of 13 and the person being charged is more than two years older than they are.
• Sexual assault in the Second Degree – This is a Class B or Class C felony. They are guilty of this degree of sexual assault if they engage in sexual intercourse with another person and the person is 13 years of age but under 16 and the defendant is two years or more older, the victim was not able to consent due to mental defect, or the victim was physically helpless.

Juveniles facing charges need proper representation by an experienced Connecticut criminal attorney in order to have the best chance at getting their charges dropped, dismissed, or reduced.

Holidays always involve lots of time with family and friends, sometimes lots of alcohol, and often lots of stress…and most of the time, all goes fine!

Still, there are situations when stress and alcohol consumption cause even the best of friends or closest of family members to fight.

If you’ve been there before, then you know for sure, there’s nothing worse than a holiday that is supposed to be filled with joy and good cheer end with assault charges against friends or family. Take one Connecticut man who recently pled guilty to one count of second-degree assault.

Brookfield Man Trades Violent Criminal Charges for Lesser Assault

In order to avoid multiple charges including first-degree strangulation, first-degree assault, and resisting arrest, the Brookfield local accepted the single second-degree assault charge.

Since he had prior assault convictions, he knew that he would face more severe penalties, based on Connecticut laws regarding the priors on his record.

So, what is covered under Connecticut assault law, anyway?

Three Levels of Assualt (and Aggravating Factors) in Connecticut

According to Connecticut law, there are three levels of assault: third-, second-, and first-degree assault. Two of them can result in felony charges, and there are a number of aggravating factors that can elevate an assault crime.

Assault in the Third Degree

Third-degree assault is the least severe of the potential charges. A third-degree assault charge is considered a Class A misdemeanor. This carries up to a $2000 fine and a year in prison. Involving a firearm raises the penalty to a year minimum, rather than maximum.

Events that can result in a charge of third-degree assault include:

• Negligently causing injury with a weapon,
• Recklessly causing serious injury, and
• Intentionally causing injury.

Injuring someone whether accidentally or intentionally with a knife or gun, without a weapon but in a particularly severe way, or regardless of weapon but intentionally causing bodily harm can all result in a third-degree assault charge.

Assault in the Second Degree

A second-degree assault charge is the next step up. It is a class D felony. The penalties include fines up to $5,000 and a prison sentence of one to five years.

A second-degree assault charge involves intending to hurt someone badly, but not necessarily permanently. They often stem from:

• Causing serious harm with intent,
• Drugging someone, or
• Harming someone purposefully with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.

You could have received a second-degree assault charge this holiday season for hitting someone with anything other than your fists, or for causing serious injury when you hit them.

Assault in the First Degree

A first-degree assault charge is the most serious assault level. It is a Class B felony, with the potential for a $15,000 fine and 20 years in prison, along with a five-year minimum sentence.

You will be charged with first-degree assault for:

• Causing harm with a firearm,
• Intending to cause physical harm with multiple participants,
• Intending to permanently disfigure, destroy, or amputate,
• Recklessly acting so that death may result, but only physical harm occurs instead.

The key here is acting in a way that results in permanent harm. Shooting at someone or acting in a way that could potentially kill someone can result in first-degree assault charges in Connecticut. Avoiding a charge in this circumstance is very hard unless you have good representation.

Aggravated Assault Charges

Assault charges are sometimes considered “aggravated” depending on who the assault was against. Assaulting pregnant women, disabled people, law enforcement officials and employees of the Department of Corrections all result in an “aggravated” assault charge, which makes higher penalties likely.

The holidays may have been stressful this year. If you let it get to you, you might have received an assault charge for Christmas. If that’s the case, turn to an experienced criminal defense attorney for advice. It could mean the difference between spending your New Year behind bars.