Icy Crash Leads to Arrest of Teenage Driver

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An Acworth girl who hit an icy patch and lost control of her car faces tragic consequences.   When 17 year old Alexandra Covett skidded into another car, the crash killed her friend in the passenger seat, 18 year old Karli Jobling of Kennesaw. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Covett is now charged with second- degree vehicular homicide.  And because she is 17, Cobb police are charging her as an adult.

While we don’t know all the circumstances of the case yet, a legal blogger points out that Covett could end up with a criminal record because of ice on the road.

Radio Series Targets Child Prostitution Problem in Georgia

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A lot has been written about girls in the sex trade but less is know about boys involved in prostitution.  WABE Radio reports that an unknown number of boys work in the sex trade and advocates want to change that. The radio station has also broadcast other stories about child prostitution in Georgia, including a two-part interview with a former child prostitute and a story about training for people who work with exploited children. WABE and PBA television will broadcast a documentary called How to Stop the Candy Shop on January 30.

Marietta Man Arrested for Exploiting Children

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The FBI has arrested a Marietta man for forcing an underage girl into prostitution.  Sly Deon Sampson is charged with four felonies including exploitation of children. Sampson’s arrest at a Marietta hotel is the latest by the Metropolitan Atlanta Child Exploitation Task Force, or MATCH.  The task force works with the Atlanta Police Department and other agencies to target the sex trade. As JJIE reported, the Georgia Demand Study, commissioned by A Future. Not a Past., showed that more than 7,000 men pay for sex with underage girls every month. The Atlanta Women’s Foundation and A Future.

House Minority Leader: Alternative Sentencing for Kids

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We’re asking lawmakers to weigh in on issues affecting children and the juvenile justice system in Georgia. We’re kicking off this JJIE.org interview series, with some insight from Representative Stacey Abrams (D-DeKalb) on the challenges ahead for the Department of Juvenile Justice,  now charged with helping troubled children amid severe budget cuts. State Representative Stacey Abrams

Newly-appointed Minority Leader
Sits on the Juvenile Justice Sub-Committee of the Judiciary  Non-Civil Committee

What do you consider some of the main pressing issues facing juvenile justice in Georgia? I am very interested in working with the new Commissioner Amy Howell as I was with the former commissioner on issues of juvenile justice because it is an important issue. How we deal with our children speaks to the stability of our communities and to so many larger structural issues in our state.

Teen Accused of Savannah’s First Murder in 2011

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A teen has been charged with the first murder of 2011 in Savannah, Ga.  Trevonte Edwards, 16, is accused of killing 78-year-old John Green after stealing his wallet outside a convenience store where Green purchased a loaf of bread.  Edwards was denied bail in his first court appearance this morning. Edwards was found in a rooming house Tuesday with 9 others believed to have been involved in a rash of recent burglaries, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Joint Appropriations Committee Hears From New DJJ Commissioner

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The harsh realities of the new year’s budget woes continue to sink in for Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) brass. Newly appointed Commissioner Amy Howell has formally presented her concerns and suggestions about the agency’s inevitable revenue slashes to members of the House and Senate appropriations committee. In a 20-minute budget hearings presentation Wednesday Howell, a former DJJ deputy commissioner, outlined the agency’s structure, highlighted challenges that further budgets cuts could impose and emphasized the critical role that legislative support would play in helping the agency continue to fulfill its mission. In his first state-of the-state address last week, new Governor Nathan Deal proposed cutting all agency budgets by four percent on average during the rest of the fiscal year ending in June and another seven percent during fiscal 2012. “We’re very cognizant of the incredible difficult economic times that the state is facing and we know that these difficulties are across the board for all agencies,” says DJJ spokeswoman Scheree Moore.

Teens Learn the Hard Way: That’s Not Cocaine – It’s Fido

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Five teens had a real OMG! moment.  They broke into a house and stole electronics, jewelry, and something else they mistook for cocaine or heroin.  The kids must have thought they hit the jackpot and they snorted it. When they didn’t get high the teens realized something was wrong.  Very wrong. They saw a TV news report about the burglary and the list of stolen items, which included urns filled with ashes. Instead of cocaine they were snorting the cremated remains of two dogs and a man.

Albany Teen Could Face Death Penalty for Murder of Store Clerk

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An Albany, Ga. teen charged with murder may be fighting for his life.  Anthony Hill, 16, could be facing the death penalty for his role in a convenience store robbery that left a clerk dead, according to Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards. Surveillance video shows two men wearing ski masks enter the Miscelenea Guate-Mex Store waving guns.  After robbing the store, police say one of the men shot and killed the store clerk, Sentos Vincente.  They are still searching for the second man. Hill appeared before a Magistrate judge yesterday.  A Superior Court judge will decide on bail at a later hearing.

Teens Arrested for Creating Vicious Phony Facebook Page

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Two Florida high school girls were busted for cyberbullying after creating a degrading phony Facebook page for a fellow classmate. Police say Taylor Wynn, 16, and McKenzie Barker, 15, posted graphic, lewd messages on the page and photos with their schoolmate’s head pasted on the body of a naked, prepubescent girl.  Wynn told police they created the page as a joke because,“Nobody liked her.”  The page, created in April, had 181 friends. A classmate of the victim alerted school authorities to the page, which was quickly taken down.  Police say the two girls created a new page attacking the victim soon after that was also taken down. The victim has reported that because of the Facebook page she has been subjected to “numerous incidents of teasing and ridicule.”

Unfortunately, cyberbullying is nothing new but, as JJIE.org reported in November, Facebook has created an application that reports incidents of bullying.  In December we told you about a girl who tracked down two college students who were harassing her online.

New Barton Center Measure Could Help Keep Runaway Kids Safe

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Shelter, food, counseling and medical care may not seem like typical 18th birthday presents, but many local experts say, thanks to a state law, many underage runaways in Georgia often wait until then to seek such services at local shelters. “A lot of runaways show up at shelters on their 18th birthday seeking services that they could not get before due to their age,” says Kirsten Widner of Emory University’s Barton Child Law and Policy Center. “Under the bill that we’ve drafted, they would not have to wait until they’re 18 anymore.”

Currently emergency shelters in Georgia that serve runaways face a legal liability if staffers provide services to young people under the age of 18 without parental permission. In light of the law, most shelters in the state do not serve underage runaways at all. The staffs at those that do, typically try to contact the child’s parent or guardian before providing any services.