More 5- to 10-year-olds arrested in Orlando than elsewhere in Florida

Orange-Osceola Public Defender Robert Wesley will hold a press conference Wednesday, Sept. 9, to call for police to stop arresting local children for minor offenses.

The 9^th Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties, arrests more children between the ages of 5 and 10 than Florida’s other 19 judicial circuits. The population of the 9^th Judicial Circuit is the 3^rd largest in Florida -- behind Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Police in many other Florida counties rely on civil remedies to help youngsters accused of minor offenses. Studies show that arresting children pushes them out of school and into the prison pipeline. There are currently 100,000 people in Florida’s state prisons.

The press conference on Wednesday starts at 11 a.m. in the courtroom at the Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University College of Law at 201 Beggs Ave., next to downtown Orlando’s federal courthouse.

Mr. Wesley was elected Public Defender to provide legal representation for needy people in criminal cases; involuntary mental health and addiction commitments and juvenile delinquency cases.