ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell renewed her calls to reform Florida’s juvenile justice system, which she has long considered inflexible and ill-equipped to handle younger violent offenders.
During a press conference Wednesday, Worrell said she was continuing to get caught between her two options for young teens facing serious charges.
One option is to upgrade their charges to adult and try them, potentially setting them up for life in prison.
That may be an easy decision for cases like the 2024 Halloween mass shooting, where a 17-year-old is accused of killing two people and starting a mass panic in downtown Orlando.
However, it’s more difficult when the shooter is 10 or 11 years old, as Worrell has seen before.
Her other option isn’t ideal: keeping them in juvenile court, where the typical offender is released before 18 months.
“I don’t think any of us think that that’s sufficient for a child that commits an offense of that level of seriousness,” Worrell said.
Worrell proposed giving prosecutors and judges a say over juvenile sentences, which could keep an offender in custody for a more “appropriate” amount of time.
She also called on lawmakers to change the juvenile probation system to punish teens for violating their probation.
Finally, Worrell defended her recent decision to not prosecute a man for committing a lewd act near a child in a public park, which added to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s criticisms of her.
Worrell said a 1992 Florida Supreme Court decision prevents prosecutors from pressing charges unless the child witnesses or is aware of the act, and is not merely present for it.
She said it was the second time she had to turn away clear-cut evidence because of that decision.
“It shouldn’t matter whether a child is sleeping or aware of this disgusting conduct or not,” she said.
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