PADUCAH, Ky. - The youngest Kentucky child to be charged with murder in decades likely will receive counseling and therapy in a setting away from a state juvenile jail, experts say. The 7-year-old boy is charged with killing his mother's boyfriend on June 27.
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Police declined to release a motive for the fatal stabbing of Robert E. Sanders, who had been living with the boy's mother, Teresa Sanders, in Hickman in far western Kentucky. Police allege that the boy stabbed the man while he slept and that the boy's 4-year-old brother was watching. Robert and Teresa Sanders are not related.
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There can't possibly be a feeling that a 7-year-old couldn't be rehabilitated," she said. "The big issue is going to be why would a 7-year-old even be capable of engaging in that level of violence. What has happened to him or around him in his life that could even create that kind of violent reaction?"
Schuler said that even if the youngster is convicted or found responsible, placement in foster or group homes could be a problem because of his age and the violent nature of the crime. Many foster parents would lack the training to deal with someone like that, he said.
But David Richart, executive director of the National Institute on Children, Youth and Families at Spalding University and an expert in Kentucky juvenile law, said the child likely would receive therapeutic foster care under specialized supervision. Foster parents in the program receive special training and have ready access to professional help.
"Looking back in 35 years of intensive records, I cannot find a kid this young who has done this," Richart said.
More at:
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/breaking_news/12194650.htm
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