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CHILDREN as young as 12 have committed sexual offences in Selby, shocking new figures reveal.

In the third part of our exclusive investigation into juvenile crime, we reveal the number of children caught for offences in the Selby district and North Yorkshire.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act detail all the crimes known to have been committed by youngsters aged ten to 17 between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2008.

In Selby, two house burglaries were carried out by children aged just 11.

They were charged by police with offences in the north of Selby on August 11 last year and January 4 this year.

The crimes were among 86 offences carried out by 11-year-olds in Selby in the same 12 months.

Three sexual offences were committed by children aged just 12 in the town during that period, and the town's youngest car thief was also aged 12.

By 14, a number of children had been found to have committed drug offences.

There were 268 offences for which children were caught by police in Selby. Across the whole of North Yorkshire there were 4,721 crimes committed by juveniles - ranging from criminal damage and antisocial behaviour to violence, car thefts and burglaries.

The most common type of crime committed by children in the area was criminal damage, closely followed by violence and then theft or handling stolen goods.

Twenty-three offences were committed by ten-year-olds countywide.

The Press told earlier this week how a ten-year-old had burgled a house in York.

Inspector Dave Kirby said a small minority of offenders would have been responsible for the majority of the crimes.

He said most young offenders tend to fall into two categories - those who only get into trouble once and get caught, then never commit an offence again, and those who embark on a life of crime.

"There are those who start off with criminal damage and antisocial behaviour, then move onto shoplifting and theft of pedal cycles and then start breaking into cars," he said.

"In the general rule there is a progression - but there are always exceptions to the rule."

Police are now working with young people to divert them from criminal activity and give them a "sense of purpose".

2:02pm Friday 9th May 2008

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