MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — The number of juveniles committing violent crimes is on the rise in McLennan County. The county's top prosecutor said his office expects this year's cases to surpass what they've seen in the previous two years.
District Attorney Josh Tetens said his office is seeing that most of the violent crimes in the area are being committed by people between ages 14 to 20 years old.
"We're seeing an increase in shootings," Tetens said. "We also have seen an increase in burglaries where they're breaking into vehicles and looking specifically to steal firearms. Something else that unfortunately we've seen an uptick in is robberies, where they're actually confronting people to steal things from them."
It's an issue that Tetens said has been building for the past two years and is now forcing his office to prosecute more aggressively.
"With these crimes that have become increasingly more violent, and more heinous, we are having to push those limits and punishment is I would say, more important and sending a message, than that rehabilitation," Tetens added.
The McLennan County juvenile justice system is set up to not lock a child or teen up, but instead rehabilitate them. However, Judge Alan Bennett, who presides over the 474th District Court, said the children having to come to his court are testing the process.
"There have been a significant number of violent crimes committed by juveniles in our community and if you look at the numbers, it's six to seven times as many violent crimes than property crimes or drug crimes," said Judge Bennett.
Judge Bennett decides whether to accept recommendations from the prosecutors when it comes to the juvenile justice system. He gets to help decide what the best outcome for the individual involved is, whether it be to send a child home on probation, whether to send them to some facility, a treatment center, or the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
"The considerations for that primarily are the safety of the child, the safety of the community, and then whether that child is getting enough support and supervision at home to be successful," Judge Bennett explained.
Here's a look at the stats Tetens provided to 6 News in regard to juvenile criminal cases.
- In 2020 there was 37 new gang entries, 29 guns seized and $5,000 seized.
- In 2021 there was 299 new gang entries, 132 guns seized, and $109,000 seized.
- In 2022 there was 67 new gang entries, 94 guns seized and $184,000 seized.
Tetens also told 6 News there was a large amount of drugs seized every year, primarily marijuana.
Both Tetens and Judge Bennett said there is a major drug problem in the county and the young kids are getting involved.
"What has astonished me more than anything else in the nine months that I've been here is how much gang related activity there is, especially among teenagers," Bennett added.
As prosecutors, Tetens' office is having to be proactive to handle the uptick in teen violence, but he said the fight against teen violence starts at home. He's calling on parents and families to get involved.
"We're trying to do more community activities to reach out to parents and families so that they can address this to some degree and hopefully help reduce that violent crime," Tetens added.
As of right now, there are three juveniles set for jury trial between now and Jan. 1 in McLennan County.
The Juvenile Justice Center and the district attorney's office also works alongside the Texas Anti Gang Unit (TAG) to help combat gang related crimes and protect the community.