Coordinating prosecutor for minors: “We are concerned that young people incorporate violence into their way of life”

The office of the juvenile coordinator room prosecutor, Eduardo Esteban (Dimples —Segovia—, 1957), is decorated with paintings and sculptures made by young inmates in juvenile centers. Adolescents trying to leave behind a criminal past in a society that exhibits violence on the networks. The annual report of the State Attorney General’s Office warned this week of a “criminal explosion” among youth never seen before, but Esteban is pleased that Spain is very far in terms of youth violence from other countries like the United States. Firearms are not at the scene of the vast majority of crimes committed by young people, but bladed weapons are, and of these, the “most brutal,” he warns. He acknowledges that the education system is failing in prevention, but emphasizes that the responsibility does not lie solely with the school. He shows his faith in the judicial system and believes that juvenile detention centers are working: only 8% of offenders reoffend.

Ask. The panorama described in the annual report on crimes committed by young people is alarming. What worries you the most?

Answer. In the last six or seven years, for example, the number of sexual assaults has doubled, which in 2022 grew by 46%. All crimes that have to do with violence among young people have increased. The homicides, the attacks; Within crimes against property, robberies with force have decreased, but robberies with violence have increased slightly. What worries us is that young people incorporate violence into their way of life, that they adopt it as a way to understand or relate to each other.

Q. Are today’s young people more violent than those of a decade ago or is it that more are reported now?

A. There is a trivialization and banalization of violence. And that’s what’s worrying. I don’t know if it’s both the quantity and the quality. I don’t know if there is more violence or if violence has been assumed as a consequence and they don’t care. Some of the events that we have had last year are young people who meet through the internet or networks to meet up. simply. They accept it, record it and spread it. Is there more violence? I don’t know, but this violence was not common, we did not know about it. For boys, physical integrity is not an asset, they risk it without any problem.

Q. The figures for homicide and murder offenses, consummated or attempted, exceed one hundred for the first time. Where do young people learn to kill?

R. At those ages they are in the training period and they are like a sponge. It is in computers, telephones, in the networks. In the sexual field, since we do not have a good sexual education, they turn to pornography. They think that these are normal sexual relationships, no one tells them that porn is normally based on violence and domination, and no one tells them about healthy relationships. In pure violent crimes, such as injuries or homicides, the same thing happens. If they challenge each other to stick and record it, the consumers of that are then the young people themselves. They care more about a like than the risk they can take. What do they seek? To be recognized and that is why they use these means.

Q. Is there a robot profile of youth gang members?

A. Before we talked about Latin bands because they had their origin in those countries and even came with their name. But today, no. They are boys from families of those nationalities, but also Spanish or Moroccan. Everyone participates in these bands, which are sadly an integration mechanism.

Q. Are they young people who remain in the educational system or does a school dropout profile predominate?

A. There is everything. Many of them study, for reasons of age. Obviously, they are kids called to leave the educational system as soon as they can, at 16 years of age. But it is that they start in the bands earlier, sometimes at the age of 13 or 14, and that leads them to be in the school system and in the band at the same time.

Q. Are the perpetrators mostly vulnerable young people from marginalized backgrounds or is that already changing?

A. It depends on the type of crime. Property crimes are still generally committed by people in a precarious economic situation. But if we talk about sexual crimes, it is more varied. Before, gang violence was limited to large cities, now we have had cases in Guadalajara or the province of Segovia. They are deploying, and that is not good news.

Esteban, in his office in Madrid.Claudio Álvarez

Q. Should the sale of edged weapons be regulated?

R. Firearms do not usually appear in youth gangs, and if there are, they are very rudimentary. These young people generally do not have access to guns or rifles. What there is the most are white weapons, yes, the most brutal: large machetes, large daggers… These weapons are also prohibited, they are regulated and not everyone can have them, but there is an abandonment and a system of greater control must be established. It can’t be that easy to buy those weapons. It is not possible to ban them because some are tools, for example, axes. Then there is an almost fetish aspect: whoever joins a gang surely shows off and says “look what I have”, and they are not going to show off a knife that they have taken from the kitchen at home.

Q. There is an issue that has generated special social alarm in recent years, packs, group sexual assaults. Was Spain turning its back on that crime or had it never existed before?

A. It always existed. Although now it is a much more modern model. The traditional sexual crime that we saw 30 or 40 years ago was a clandestine crime, of one person against another. Because? Due to society’s own repression, of which the aggressors are also part. We had very repressed sexual relations and we were very modest with our privacy, no one liked to do those things in public. Before it was unthinkable to have sex in the bathroom of a nightclub. The time has changed. There is a very positive aspect that is liberation, but with the drawback that the methods have changed. On the other hand, more and more young people have entered into this type of crime. And the idiosyncrasy of young people is to share, much more than that of adults. They record it to show it to others. Before it was very difficult to prove sexual crimes; Now they provide the proof for us themselves. Does this mean they don’t care if they get caught? No, of course it worries them, but they value the other thing more. They prefer to be applauded.

Q. What role does alcohol or other drugs play in crime?

R. It is a disinhibitor, but it is not a determining factor. In the field of minors, it does not have much legal significance that they have consumed, it is not like in that of adults. Nightlife, treachery… have no aggravating effects, we do not take it into account. When we go to judge an adult, we look at what punishment they deserve. With the minor we look to what extent he needs. Juvenile justice is based more on recovery and re-education.

Q. What do they usually need?

A. For the most serious cases, closed confinement is used. It is the way to guarantee that the education that is going to be given will have an effect. There is a big difference between a prison and a juvenile detention center. In prison, security is almost everything. In juvenile centers those who deal directly with them are the educators. In addition, there are mandatory classes, they learn trades and there are no overcrowding. Therapeutic treatments are also mandatory. For all these reasons, the recidivism rate is very low, 8%. I think they are working.

Q. This almost unconscious use of cell phones, the speed with which intimate content circulates are also part of the problem. Would you regulate the use of these devices among adolescents?

A. We all have to get involved, not just the police, prosecutors or judges. We intervene when the incident has already occurred and this can only be cured by good prevention and education. Families cannot request guardianship from the State. We all agree that something must be done; So let’s start working. I don’t think it’s that difficult to prohibit a minor from using the phone at a certain time.

Q. The Netherlands has been one of the last European countries to ban the use of mobile phones in educational centers from 2024 (also Italy or France). In Spain, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia have banned it. Do you think that could be part of the solution?

A. I think the limitation is possible. Prohibit use at certain hours. Minors must be educated in the use and benefits of social networks, but also in their detriment. We are beginning to notice that there is an addiction problem and it is very difficult to treat. It is not about prohibiting it, but about regulating it. And with pornography, the same. They are not prohibitive measures, but educational ones.

Q. Do you think that a measure like the parental PIN proposed by the extreme right could aggravate the problem by preventing the treatment of certain content at school?

A. It is not a school issue, but a global one. We are all called to educate minors, whether they are our children or not. Children are not the property of their parents. The contents taught in this regard must be subject to regulation agreed upon by all. The best solution is not “do what you want with your child.”

Q. Agents from the National Police and the Civil Guard go to educational centers to give talks to prevent different types of violence. There is also the figure of the guardian agent, plainclothes police officers who help the most troublesome kids. Do you think it is insufficient?

A. I think they are very valuable resources. Furthermore, the Lopivi (Comprehensive Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents against Violence) establishes the need to create a figure in schools to whom attacked minors can go, a role that is usually assumed by one of the teachers. The problem is that there are centers that interpret that intervening in these cases gives them a bad image, especially if they are private, they believe that it is not in their best interest. When faced with a complaint of bullying, instead of collaborating in solving the problem, they deny it.

Q. Are you in favor of lowering the criminal age?

A. I think not. I have faith in Spanish justice, especially in juvenile justice. Deprivation of liberty is too great a limitation for a minor under 14 years of age, there has to be an alternative. In these cases, it is the autonomous communities that assess whether the minor needs any treatment, as happens with kids who are in a situation of helplessness. The important thing is to banish that legend that as long as they are not of age nothing happens to them and their actions have no consequences… there are and they can be very bad.

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