Nearly half of all inmates at the Manitoba Youth Centre are being held for auto-theft-related offences, with some of them "revelling" in their crimes and many exchanging "war stories" with each other while locked up, the Free Press has learned.
The shocking revelation came during the sentencing of a 16-year-old boy Wednesday who once admitted to a probation officer that being locked up at the MYC "won't be so bad" as he'll be surrounded by his auto-theft peers.
In his testimony prior to the youth being sentenced for an April 14 incident when he stole a car from a street in southeast Winnipeg, Crown attorney Mick Makar told Judge Rocky Pollack that 44 per cent of the youth centre's population are there on auto-theft-related charges or convictions.
As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, there were 194 people being held at the MYC, meaning roughly 86 of them are involved in the city's auto-theft subculture to varying degrees. The facility was built to house 154 people inside its 12 "cottages."
More worrying still was the teen's admission in a pre-sentencing report that he doesn't steal cars for the thrill of the theft, but because of the adrenaline rush he gets from the potential to engage in high-speed chases and confrontations with police.
"He's revelling in the culture he's involved in," Makar said, adding the teen also admits to sharing and comparing "war stories" with others inside the confines of the youth centre.
"There's little hope he'll change his ways," Makar said.
The teen was assessed at a "level 3" in the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS), but was out of custody for such a short time before reoffending that there wasn't enough time to boost him up to a "level 4."
The level 4 designation would rank the teen among the 100 or so "worst of the worst" auto-theft offenders in the city.
Pollack asked if the teen and other stolen-auto offenders were able to receive any related programming while in custody or if correctional officers were involved in the WATSS strategy. The answer was no.
Defence lawyer Randy Janis argued that the youth was not a "chronic auto-theft person" and prior to this incident had neither convictions for stealing nor driving pilfered cars.
Janis pushed for his client to receive a sentence in the community in an effort to rehabilitate him outside the negative influence of the youth centre.
"Do we put him here with the other 44 per cent that will continue to swap war stories?" he asked Pollack.
"The best hope for him not to reoffend is to rehabilitate him -- if he's continually immersed in the culture, he'll be more affected by it," Janis added.
Pollack sentenced the boy to a period of two years' probation with strict conditions, and noted the 57 days spent in custody awaiting the verdict on his record.
The morning court session bore proof to the notion that the youth centre houses a high number of stolen-auto offenders.
In other incidents that were heard was the case of a level 4 offender in custody for violating his curfew. The teen, who's one of about 10 youths currently wearing an electronic ankle bracelet meant to monitor his behaviour was also released to give serving his sentence in the community one more try.
As well, it was ruled that a 14-year-old boy involved as a passenger in one of the two vehicles linked to a March 29 crash that killed a Winnipeg cab driver will be held for another week to undergo a psychological assessment by MYC doctors.
He was due to be sentenced, but Pollack ruled he needed more information on the teen's mental state. His lawyer, Dan Manning, argued there was no evidence the teen suffers from a cognitive disorder.
james.turner@freepress.mb.ca
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