I wasn’t trying to say he’s not guilty in my original comment, but rather, if our country as a whole viewed crime and punishment differently, this kind of situation could be avoided altogether. Hypothetical, I know, but conditioning people to help those in need, in turn, reduces the rate at which people treat others poorly. If this kid was treated better in the first place, it could be said he would have never committed this crime, but now he has, and there’s no coming back from that. With his punishment, he will be facing a life of psychological tortue, which won’t make anything better.