This week, State Attorney Andrew Bain said that the 17-year-old suspect in the mass killing in downtown Orlando on Halloween night will be charged as an adult. Two of the nine people who were shot died, and a woman was hurt when people running for safety stepped on her.
Some of the charges against Jaylen Edgar are second-degree murder and attempted murder. State Attorney Bain said that more charges will likely be brought as the investigation goes on. His office is focusing on first-degree murder charges.
Professor of Law Leroy Pernell from Florida A&M University College of Law joins Engage to talk about the rules and laws that apply when prosecuting children as adults.
Police want children who have been sexually abused to help them with their investigations into the crimes that were done to them. What do you do when those kids are accused of making false accusations?
That is what happened when Taylor Cadle, who was thirteen at the time, told the Polk County Sheriff’s Office that her guardian was beating her. The Lakeland resident was taken from her mother’s care when she was seven years old and put into foster care.
Henry Cadle, her great-uncle, took her in and raised her for another year and a half. Within a short time, he started sexually abusing her.
It went on for years until a church counselor told Taylor to talk to Polk County police. There, she told the agent her story, and the woman turned the meeting into an interrogation. Police said Taylor made up the claims against him and charged him with lying to them.
The judge put her on probation, and as part of her terms, she had to write letters of apology to her uncle and the Polk County detective. While this was going on, Henry Cadle kept sexually abusing Taylor.
Eventually, Taylor gathered enough proof for police to charge Henry Cadle, who was found guilty and given a 17-year prison term.