Youth offending escalating, sexual violence committed by young people on the rise

The number of youth facing charges rose by almost 1000 during 2022. Youth sexual offence charges rose more than 25 per cent. Photo / NZME

The number of youths charged with sexual offending jumped by more than 25 per cent last year, with police bringing the largest number of youth sexual violence prosecutions than at any point in the past decade.

The full picture of overall offending during 2022 is now clear, after the Ministry of Justice today published the latest crime reporting data.

Those figures show 202 people aged 17 or under were charged with sexual assault or related offences in 2022 - rising from 159 the year prior, a 26 per cent jump.

There were multiple high-profile prosecutions of young serial rapists last year, including Tauranga’s Jayden Meyer and former student at an Auckland school who is currently fighting for name suppression.

Both cases received significant media coverage and prompted public outrage.

On the youth stats overall, the figures show the number of prosecutions against young people has risen by nearly 1000.

A total of 8007 distinct charges were laid in 2022, compared to 7059 the year prior. The figure represents the most charges laid against youth since 2017.

Among young people, charges for fraud and deception dropped significantly from 222 charges to just 90 - a drop of just under 60 per cent.

But charges for theft and related offences jumped from 2529 to 3036, or roughly 20 per cent. Charges for unlawful entry rose 40 per cent, from 684 charges to 978.

Of the charges against youth, 48 per cent, or 3882 of the charges, were proven but “absolutely discharged” under section 282 of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

An absolute discharge is typically ordered when a judge considers a youth offender has completed their plan laid out at a Family Group Conference, or FGC.

A total of 32 per cent, or 2541 of the charges were proven and resulted in an end sentence of some form.

Eighteen per cent of charges were dismissed, discharged or withdrawn.

When it came to criminals of all ages, the number of individuals prosecuted reached 61,378 - a rise of 2729 offenders compared with 2021.

Rather than reporting individual charges, the adult data counts a person once per year for their most serious offence.

While the data shows a small rise, the figure is still lower than the 2020 total, where 66,111 distinct offenders were charged. Ten years ago, that figure sat at 101,829.

Most offence categories rose, but others such as unlawful entry and illicit drug offences dropped by a few per cent.

The most sizeable increase was seen in the “dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons” category, with the number of charged offenders climbing by 12 per cent from 3785 to 4277.

Public order offences rose from 1173 to 1451, and traffic offending also increased by 11 per cent, although this is potentially explained by the previous year having been affected by pandemic restrictions.

Notably, prosecutions for cannabis-related charges also dropped, reaching the lowest level since 2013.

Just 4323 charges were laid - a drop of only 139 on 2021, but a drop of around 115 per cent since 9335 charges were laid in 2013.

However, while prosecutions for import/export, supply and cultivation of the drug dropped, those prosecuted for possession rose by 23 charges on the previous year.

In 2019, a law change gave police greater discretionary powers as to whether someone is charged with cannabis-related offences.