Charging Juveniles as Adults
This week, State Attorney Andrew Bain announced the 17-year-old arrested in the Halloween night downtown Orlando mass shooting is being charged as an adult. Two of the nine people who were shot died, and a woman was hurt when she was trampled by the crowd running for safety. Jaylen Edgar faces several charges including second degree murder and attempted murder. State Attorney Bain said more charges are expected as the investigation continues, and his office is pursuing first-degree murder. Leroy Pernell, Professor of Law at Florida A&M University College of Law, joins Engage to break down the legalities and guidelines involved in prosecuting minors as adults.
Teen Collects Evidence to Prove Innocence
Law enforcement agencies encourage children who are survivors of sexual abuse to cooperate with investigations into the crimes perpetrated against them. What happens when those children are themselves accused of leveling false accusations? That’s exactly what happened when then thirteen-year-old Taylor Cadle informed the Polk County Sheriff’s Office that her guardian was abusing her. The Lakeland resident was removed from her mother’s care at seven and placed into the foster system. A year and a half later, she was adopted by her great-uncle, Henry Cadle. Soon after that, he began abusing her, sexually.
This went on for years until a church counsellor directed Taylor to Polk County law enforcement. There, she told her story to a female detective who turned the session into an interrogation. Taylor was accused of making up the allegations and charged with lying to police. A judge sentenced her to probation, where a probation officer forced her to write letters of apology to her great-uncle and the Polk County detective. All this time, Henry Cadle continued to sexually abuse Taylor. Eventually, Taylor gathered enough evidence for investigators to file charges against Henry Cadle that saw him convicted and sentenced to 17 years.
Rachel de Leon is a reporter with the Center for Investigative Reporting and she uncovered Taylor’s story and filed it with PBS’s News Hour. Both Rachel and Taylor join Engage to parse out this story.
