Article 80Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents

Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents.

-Whenever a minor under eighteen years of age, of either sex, be accused of a crime, the court, after hearing the evidence in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment, shall suspend all further proceedings and shall I commit such minor to the custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution, established under the law for the care, correction or education of orphaned, homeless, defective and delinquent children, or to the custody or care of any other responsible person in any other place subject to visitation and supervision by the Public Welfare Commissioner or any of his agents or representatives, if there be any, or otherwise by the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, subject to such conditions as are prescribed hereinbelow, until such minor shall have reached his majority or for such less period as the court may deem proper.

The court, in committing said minor as provided above, shall take into consideration the religion of such minor, his parents or next of kin, in order to avoid his commitment to any private institution not under the control and supervision of the religious sect or denomination to which they belong.

The Public Welfare Commissioner or his duly authorized representatives or agents, the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, or the person to whose custody or care the minor has been committed, shall submit to the Court every two months or as often as required, a written report on the good or bad conduct of said minor and the moral and intellectual progress made by him.

The suspension of the proceedings against a minor may be extended or shortened by the court on the recommendation of the Public Welfare Commissioner or his authorized representatives or agents, or the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, according as to whether the conduct of such minor has been good or not and whether he has complied with the conditions imposed upon him. The provisions of the first paragraph of this article shall not, however, be affected by those contained herein.

If the minor has been committed to the custody or care of any of the institutions mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, with the approval of the Public Welfare Commissioner and subject to such conditions as this official in accordance with the law may deem proper to impose, such minor may be allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible person.

If the minor has behaved properly and has complied with the conditions imposed upon him during his confinement, in accordance with the provisions of this article, he shall be returned to the court in order that the same may order his final release.

In case the minor fails to behave properly or to comply with the regulations of the institution to which he has been committed or with the conditions imposed upon him when he was committed to the care of a responsible person, or in case he should be found incorregible or his continued stay in such institution should be inadvisable, he shall be returned to the court in order that the same may render the judgment corresponding to the crime committed by htm.

The expenses for the maintenance of a minor delinquent confined in the institution to which he has been committed, shall be borne totally or partially by his parents or relatives or those persons liable to support him, if they are able to do so, in the discretion of the court.

SECTION TWO.-Execution of principal penalties