Before he was 10 years old, Willie Bosket had skipped school, started fires, picked pockets, and stolen a car. A psychiatrist at Bellevue called him the "saddest little boy she’d ever seen.” By the time he was 16 years old, he was known all over New York City as the “Baby-Faced Butcher." His crimes led to the passing of the Juvenile Offender Act of 1978 and changed how juvenile offenders are punished all over the country. 

This episode was reported in collaboration with a new podcast from WNYC about the juvenile justice system: Caught.

Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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Artwork by Julienne Alexander.


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