I don't really see why a child stealing should be thought of as acting as a child, while a child doing something like this should be thought of as acting as an adult. While someone who takes something so they don't have to pay for it is acting on a rational, selfish impulse, someone who engages in this kind of behavior is showing a profound lack of empathy, or inability to distinguish reality from fantasy, or simply inability to think for himself and disobey whatever "leader" he is following. We like to think of "the children" as sweet and innocent, but the qualities I listed above are all distinctly childish ones.
The more I think about it, the more strongly I believe that this is a case of two or three mentally ill, disturbed "ringleaders" and seven or eight younger kids with no real role models or authority figures who got attached to this gang as a way of coping with life in a very dangerous neighborhood. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the kids who've been arrested so far are the followers, and the leaders are actually 18 or older -- the better to manipulate kids into doing something like this.
