Oliver Newman: A New-England Tale, Unfinished; With Other Poetical Remains (1845)

Many readers will not believe that a young child could successfully commit major crimes. I, therefore, submit a few notorious names and statistics for review: a[ Mary Bell, age 10, murdered two boys (both age three).a[ Robert Denies and Jon Cries, both age 11, murdered James Bulger, age two.a[ Nathan Ferris, age 12, murdered a schoolmate and himself.a[ Andrew Golden, age 11, and Mitchell Johnson, age 13, murdered five schoolmates and wounded many others. These are the stories that we know. How many similar stories remain known only to their author and his (or her) hapless victims? After all, the most successful criminal is the criminal that exists outside the realm of suspicion. How can we detect and punish a predator that we do not suspect? Who would suspect an angelic child of rape, burglary or murder? Yet, children are in many ways more capable of such crimes than are their adult counterparts. The very fact that we believe them to be incapable of committing such acts makes it possible for them to commit their crimes and escape detection. If Damon Blackley is not real today, he must be real tomorrow. Indeed, perhaps he has come and gone countless times in the past, his exploits inevitably passing unrecorded, unresolved, and unpunished.