Victoria in grip of youth crime wave

New data has revealed a frightening spike in youth crimes, with children as young as 10 behind a spate of horror home break-ins.

Aggravated burglaries committed by youth offenders have spiked in Victoria.

Aggravated burglaries committed by Victoria’s youngest offenders have skyrocketed by 80 per cent year-on-year, with overall crime figures for children aged under 14 being at its highest rate in half a decade.

New crime data reveals children aged between 10-14, many who are at primary school, committed 164 aggravated burglaries in the year to September, up from 91 offences the year prior.

The volume of offending in this age category has more than doubled in four years, with just 60 youths being charged with the serious offence in the year ending September 2018.

The number of non-aggravated burglaries among children jumped to 415 offences, compared to 293 the year prior.

Overall, the number of alleged offender incidents in the same age group jumped by 30 per cent to 5368 incidents, up from 4092.

Of those, 2744 offences were property/deception offences, 2045 were crimes against the person and 75 were drug offences.

Children aged 10 committed 38 offences during the year, while those aged 11 were charged with 132 offences.

However overall offending for the 10-24 age category were at their lowest level in five years, Crime Statistics Agency data reveals.

Victoria Police said while the median age of the state’s worst offender was 18, there were younger children involved in serious offending.

“Despite offending decreasing in this group of people, overall offender incidents involving 10-14-year-olds did increase year-on-year and remain slightly above pre-pandemic levels,” a police spokesman said.

“Four in 10 offences among this age group were common assaults where no injury was sustained by the victim, criminal damage, or shop theft.

“However, we have seen an increase in our youngest offenders being involved in crimes such as home burglaries which is concerning for police.”

Victoria Police said their dedicated youth offending operation, dubbed Operation Alliance, was focused on youth gangs and local operations targeting those breaking into homes.

“These offenders are overwhelmingly not seeking confrontation, with their preference to target unlocked homes and get in and out of the property without being seen,” the spokesman said.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners, including Corrections Victoria, Children’s Court of Victoria, Department of Education, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Youth Justice, and community leaders to engage and involve young people with activities, such as education, sport, or a community group, that remove them from being involved in crime.”