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Which crimes led Charles Manson to spend much of his youth in reformatories?
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Charles Manson
Cult leader Charles Manson being transported to a courthouse in Independence, California, 1969.
During his youth, Charles Manson was sent to a series of reformatories due to a recurring pattern of criminal behavior. His early offenses included running away from a boys' home and robbing a grocery store in 1948.1
Over the following years, he committed various crimes that led to multiple institutionalizations, including:
- Petty larceny1
- Armed robbery1
- Burglary1
- Auto theft1
In 1951, after escaping a juvenile reformatory, he was caught in Idaho and charged with a federal crime for driving a stolen vehicle across state lines. While held in federal reformatories, he was also accused of committing a violent assault against another inmate.1