Protect Your Child's Future | NJ Juvenile Criminal Defense
Your child made a mistake. A fight at school. Something found in their locker. A bad decision at a party. Now there's a police officer asking questions. Your instinct says to cooperate, explain, help them understand your kid is a good kid who made one mistake.
That instinct will destroy your child's future. The New Jersey juvenile justice system was designed to rehabilitate children - but the "sealed record" your child gets doesn't seal from the military, from college admissions officers, from professional licensing boards. And the "explanation" you just gave police? That's the confession prosecutors will use.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We represent juveniles and their families across New Jersey in family court and criminal proceedings. This article explains what most parents don't find out until it's too late - how the juvenile system actually works, who can see those "confidential" records, and why the first 48 hours after your child's arrest determine everything.
We get it. Your child is scared. You're scared. Everything is happening fast. But slow down. What you do right now matters more than what happened.
The "Sealed Record" Myth
Most parents believe juvenile records automatically seal when their child turns 18. This is wrong. In New Jersey, juvenile records are NOT automatically erased, expunged, or sealed at the end of supervision or when the youth turns 18. Sealing requires a separate court petition - filed two years after supervision ends. Expungement requires five years. Most families dont know this until it's to late.
And "sealed" doesn't mean what you think. By New Jersey law, only juvenile charges are confidential. The final court order - the disposition, the adjudication - is NOT confidential. This means information can legally be made availible without your knowledge.
Who can access these "sealed" records?
- Law enforcement agencies
- Government agencies
- The U.S. Military - even expunged records
- Some professional licensing boards
- Courts for future proceedings
That "second chance" your child was promised? It comes with a paper trail.
Heres the part that devastates families. Your child joins the military eight years later. They didn't disclose the juvenile arrest because it was "expunged." The military finds it anyway during security clearance. Now your adult child faces federal charges - or Article 83 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice - for witholding information during enlistment. The expunged juvenile record becomes a federal crime. We've seen this happen.
College scholarships work the same way. Some scholarship applications specifically exclude applicants with "adjudicated complaints" - thats the legal term for a juvenile court finding. Not convictions. Adjudicated complaints. One scholarship at NJIT explicitly requires "no convictions, adjudicated complaints, or settlements involving felonious acts." Your childs "sealed" juvenile record disqualifies them from financial aid they never knew they lost.
So what is the seal actually protecting them from? Mostly private employers who dont conduct deep background checks. Landlords. Some colleges. Its something. But its not what parents think when they hear "sealed."
When "Juvenile Court" Disappears
For certain offenses, your child won't go to juvenile court at all. New Jersey prosecutors can "waive" juveniles aged 15-17 to adult court for homicide, sexual assault, certain drug or firearm crimes, and other serious offenses. When this happens, every protection of the juvenile system disappears.
In New Jersey, this decision is made by prosecutors alone. Judges can only intervene if they find the prosecutor "abused their discretion" - wich, according to Human Rights Watch, is a "virtually impossible standard to meet." Your childs fate is in the prosecutors hands.
The numbers from the New Jersey Attorney General's Waiver Report are brutal. During 2020-2021:
- 94% of waived juveniles pled guilty
- 96.4% received incarceration
- Average sentence: 7.3 years
- Sentence range: 1.5 to 38 years in prison
Your child goes from facing juvenile disposition to facing nearly a decade in adult prison.
Ninty-six point four percent. Almost everyone waived to adult court gets locked up.
Heres were it gets worse. Human Rights Watch released a 61-page report in February 2025 called "Kids You Throw Away." The key finding? Passaic County's waiver rate is seven times higher then nearby Union County. Same state. Similar offenses. Seven times more likely to be tried as an adult depending on wich county you live in.
The same report found 56% of waived youth were Black. 96% were male. Where you live and who you are can matter more then what you did. As Rutgers Law Professor Laura Cohen told Human Rights Watch: "New Jersey gains no benefit from sending youth to the adult system."
This is why the first 48 hours matter. What you do when police first contact your child can determine weather they face juvenile court - or adult prison.
How Parents Make It Worse
Heres what defense attorneys see constantly. Parents think cooperating with police helps. They let their child "explain." They answer questions themselves. They believe honesty demonstrates innocence. Instead, they hand prosecutors exactly what they need.
In New Jersey, police can question your 15, 16, or 17 year old without you present. Theres no law requiring parental presence for the interrogation of teenagers. Only children under 14 have protection requiring a parent's presence for confessions to be admissible. Your teenager? They can be questioned alone, and everything they say is useable in court.
Minors have Miranda rights. But New Jersey law only requires that questioning be "fair" - not that your child actually understands their rights before questioning begins. Police dont have to wait for your child to waive their rights. They just have to read them. A scared 16-year-old who dosent understand whats happening can provide a full confession before you even know theyve been detained.
And the worst part? The more your child tries to explain their innocence, the more they provide. "I was there but I didn't do anything" becomes evidence of presence. "I only held the bag" becomes an admission. "My friend was the one who..." becomes confirmation of conspiracy. Every word helps prosecutors. No words help your child.
We get it. Telling your child to stay silent feels wrong. Everything in you wants to clear this up. But the clearing up happens in court, with counsel, not in the interrogation room.
When police contact your child, one sentence: "We want to cooperate, but we need to speak with our attorney first." Then stop. Every defense attorney in New Jersey will tell you the same thing. Silence is not evidence of guilt. Talking is evidence of everything.
What Actually Protects Your Child
If your reading this because your child is already in trouble, you need to move fast. The window for intervention - before charges solidify, before waiver decisions get made, before statements become evidence - is small. Hours matter.
Todd Spodek has represented juveniles and families throughout New Jersey. Early involvement means we can sometimes resolve cases before formal charges. We can ensure your child doesn't make statements that destroy their defense. We can fight waiver motions before they succeed. We can start the process of protecting your child's record from day one.
What you do now determines everything. Whether your child faces juvenile adjudication or adult prosecution. Whether their record gets sealed or follows them for decades. Whether that college scholarship stays on the table or disappears.
Spodek Law Group is here when you need us. Call 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. Your child made a mistake. That doesn't have to define their life. But only if you act now.
