A 13-year-old girl under Child, Youth and Family care who was transferred from Auckland is running amok in Nelson, too young to be prosecuted.
The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was under CYF's care when she led police on a late-night car chase through West Auckland in
June last year, damaging three cars.
Now living in Nelson and still under CYF's care, the girl has taken and crashed three cars and run away from her caregivers more than 10 times since she arrived last year.
Her aunt, who was initially looking after the girl, said she had also stolen money from her family, taken wallets from cars and been caught shoplifting.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said neither she nor CYF could control her.
She said that when the girl came to Nelson she initially settled into school and appeared like any other 12-year-old, even talking about wanting to become a lawyer.
She described the girl as likeable and outgoing, "bright, yet naive".
Then this year her behaviour deteriorated, money started going missing, she skipped school and was caught shoplifting.
The girl blamed the problems on missing her mother and CYF arranged for the two to meet.
Finally, her exasperated aunt took the girl to the police station and told them she could no longer care for her.
The girl was placed with CYF caregivers, but ran away and stole more cars. The aunt knew of three instances where she had taken and crashed cars in Nelson.
She was concerned CYF did not know how to handle the girl.
"It's like they don't want to know - that's my feeling, and they don't know what to do."
CYF said the girl was now under 24-hour supervision and had an adult with her at all times.
Despite this, she went missing again on Friday and was later found by police and returned to her caregivers.
Police had been excellent but were "totally frustrated" by the situation and were unable to prosecute the child because she was under 14, her aunt said.
CYF's Upper South Island service delivery unit manager, Yvonne Burns, said it was considering a new placement with a relative or residential care.
She said the department could struggle at times with individual children. "But we don't give up on them. We will keep doing our best to help."
The girl, originally from Auckland, was sent to Nelson after a hui between CYF and family members. Before then she was at Kingslea Residential Centre, a secure unit for young offenders in Christchurch.
The then 11-year-old was sent to Christchurch after the incident in Auckland, where police caught her after she stole a car and drove at speeds of more than 100 km/h through suburban streets, ramming two police cars.
Ms Burns said CYF would continue to work closely with the girl's school, a local community agency and her family to address the problems.
The aunt said she would like to see the girl put in a controlled environment and given professional help.
The family had arranged for the girl to stay with another aunt in the North Island.
- NZPA
A 13-year-old girl under Child, Youth and Family care who was transferred from Auckland is running amok in Nelson, too young to be prosecuted.
The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was under CYF's care when she led police on a late-night car chase through West Auckland in
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.