12-year-olds accused in LRT assault were in province's care at time of attack

A pair of 12-year-old girls accused in a brutal assault at an LRT station that hospitalized a 55-year-old woman were receiving intervention services from the province at the time, court records show. 

The case had a brief hearing in Edmonton's Court of Justice on Wednesday. Only one of the girls has a lawyer on record so far. Neither child was present at the hearing, and the case will next be back in court on Jan. 8. 

The girls can't be named because the Youth Criminal Justice Act protects the identity of anyone under the age of 18 accused or convicted of committing a criminal offence. 

The 55-year-old victim, who police say was "assaulted to the point of unconsciousness" on the Coliseum LRT platform on Nov. 26, is now home and recovering, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.

In an earlier news release, police said the woman was in hospital in critical condition with significant head and facial injuries.

Court records obtained by CBC News show that after the two girls were arrested, one was detained at EPS's northwest campus, while the other was held at the Stollery Children's Hospital.

It's a requirement that parents, relatives, or guardians of youth be notified when a youth is charged with a crime. Affidavits filed with the court show that the adults notified for both girls were on-duty crisis workers, rather than a family member or other guardian. 

Bail hearing documents show that both girls are receiving intervention from Children's Services: one of the girls was listed as being under the care of the director of Children's Services, while the other was under a temporary guardianship order. 

The bail documents also show that a group home worker was contacted to attend the bail hearing for the girl under the director's care. A social worker was contacted to attend the hearing of the child who has a temporary guardian. 

Both girls were released on bail, and are subject to a number of conditions, including a ban from all Edmonton Transit Services properties.

They also aren't allowed to contact each other, and must follow a curfew and be in their approved residences between 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

An exception to the curfew is allowed if the girls are in the company of Children's Services caseworkers or group home staff members.

Ashli Barrett, spokesperson for Alberta's Minister of Children's Services Searle Turton, said the ministry can't comment on matters that are before the court or that are being investigated by police.

"If Children and Family Services is involved with a child or youth accused of a crime, we work with police as needed and provide necessary supports to the child or youth and their families," Barrett said.

"We are committed to continuously improving our system and examining the circumstances around any incident to identify potential changes to improve child intervention services."

Lawyers have told CBC it's relatively rare for a 12-year-old to be charged with a criminal offence, let alone a serious one. Twelve is the youngest age that a person in Canada can be charged with a crime.