Crimes committed by Victorian youth jumps by 40 per cent

Children aged 10 to 13 are behind a spike in “serious and violent” assaults and robberies, as the number of crimes committed by Victorian youth skyrockets by 40 per cent.

Children as young as 10 are ­behind a worrying spike in ­“serious and violent” crimes as out-of-control youth gangs plague police.

Offences committed by kids aged between 10 and 13 years have jumped by 38 per cent in the past year to June.

The latest crime statistics, released on Thursday, show total crimes committed by children in this age group rose to 3187 offences, an additional 877 crimes compared to last year.

The shock data comes as Victoria plans to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years old this year and to 14 by 2027.

Police say young criminals are now more often committing violent crimes, including assaults, burglaries and car thefts than lower-level offences such as theft or vandalism.

Crimes committed by 14-17 years-olds increased 26 per cent to 17,214 offences, a spike of 3,576 reported crimes.

Children aged 10-13 are behind a worrying spike in “serious and violent” assaults and robberies.

There were 1080 more crimes against the person ­committed by children, 724 ­additional assaults and 671 more burglaries than this time last year.

Youth gangs continue to challenge police, with almost 300 repeat offenders remaining the primary target of Operation Alliance, the taskforce dedicated to thwarting youth offending.

Victoria Police’s Deputy ­regional operations commissioner Neil Paterson said ­offending among children was the highest it had been in years as police continued to put “extreme pressure” on Victoria’s most violent young criminals.

“In three years, we have managed to decrease the number of known youth gang members in Victoria by almost 20 per cent,” he said. There are almost 600 known youth gang members part of 44 youth gangs on a police watchlist.

Mr Paterson said police would continue to put “extreme pressure” on the state’s most violent young offenders to drive down youth crime. Picture: Ian Currie

Police have arrested the same 444 youth gang members a combined total of 1630 times, and the number of total youth arrests is sitting at a 10-year-high. And 82 of those were arrested more than 10 times in the past year.

“That’s really concerning,” he told 3AW. “The recidivism of young people that we’re seeing, who are committing repeat offences is concerning.

“There’s some very problematic young people out there that we know about.”

The latest figures follow a spate of alarming crimes against teenagers across ­Melbourne.

A 14-year-old Glen Eira College student called Benjamin was left fighting for life after a group of teen gang members abducted and assaulted him as he walked home from school in Glen Huntly on September 4.

Benjamin was abducted in Glen Eira on September 4th. Picture: Channel 9

He was left fighting for life after a group of teen gang members abducted and assaulted him. Picture: Channel 9

Unknown offenders shot a 17-year-old boy through the windows of his family home as he slept in Endeavour Hills on September 13.

Meanwhile, detectives are probing whether an 18-year-old boy who was shot in Truganina on September 21 had links to street gangs.

Mr Paterson said that while crimes remained lower than pre-pandemic levels, youth crime and theft remained “areas of concern” for police.

Last year police arrested the second-highest number of ­offenders across all ages in the past decade, with 66,239 ­arrests, second to 66,885 ­arrests in 2017.

Offences increased across almost all categories, with the biggest spike in property and deception offences, which rose by 15.6 per cent to 272,790.