Girl, 14, arrested for abducting, robbing children

A 14-year-old out-of-school girl was arrested after the parents of at least seven of her young victims – aged 4 to 9 – trooped yesterday to the police station to file charges of theft against her in Caloocan City.

Police said the teenager has preyed on an estimated 40 young girls this year alone.

Chief Inspector Josephine Mallari, Women and Children’s Concerns Desk (WCCD) of the Caloocan City police, said the girl – whose name has been withheld – was taken into custody after families of her victims pointed to the former as having waylaid their wards.

The suspect was brought to the police by officials of Barangay 83 after a concerned parent sought their assistance regarding the mounting incidence of young girls suddenly getting lost in the barangay and nearby areas, particularly in Morning Breeze Subdivision up to Bagong Barrio along and near EDSA towards the city boundary with Quezon City.

The victims re-appear in their neighborhoods only after several days later, confused, hungry and traumatized.

Investigators said the suspect – who dropped out of school last year as a freshman at the Bagong Barrio High School in Caloocan City – invariably played with her would-be victims one at a time and befriend them.

After gaining their trust, she would entice them to go with her to the mall, usually in Divisoria, or to any fun place the intended victim wanted to go.

Once there, she would alternately cajole them or threaten them with harm to part with their cash, trinkets and jewelry – even the clothes they were wearing – and then abandon them.

The suspect would make a clean getaway while her victims tried to find their way home through unfamiliar territory.

The 14-year-old told the police that she gave her loot to a certain "Jerry B.," who allegedly ordered her to steal.

Police officers Teresa de la Cruz and Marissa Santos, WCCD investigators, told The STAR that the girl could have become a pathological liar. The names mentioned by the suspect turned out to be non-existent when verified.

Her father, 41, who sells slippers for a living, told The STAR he does not know why his daughter, the second of four siblings, has become a juvenile criminal. He said he goes home late and leaves the raising of their children to his wife Violeta, a laundrywoman.

The complainants, however, told The STAR Violeta is always seen with the suspect shortly after running away with her victim’s belongings, an apparent attempt to implicate her in her activities. The complainants, however, could not present sufficient proof that the girl’s mother was an accomplice.

"The law (is not clear on the liability or accountability of the minor suspect’s parents," said Senior Police Officer 3 Florides Bravo, WCCD senior investigator.

The victims also could not point to any companion of legal age to pin down the suspect on possible charges of the more serious crime of abduction.

Investigators said the victim will be turned over to the local office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The law orders the WCCD investigators to turn over the offender to the DSWD within eight hours of police custody.

The law, however, is lenient on minor offenders and the police are worried they might find the girl again in the street committing crime.

Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, provides that any child 15 years of age and below arrested by the police for any criminal act is considered without liability or not held accountable and must not be put behind bars.