BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP)—A judge jailed a 9-year-old boy for five days after his repeated scrapes with the law, releasing him after an attempt to teach him “there are consequences for his actions,” authorities said Tuesday. Attorneys involved in the case said McLean County Circuit Judge William Caisley ordered the boy to the county jail last Wednesday after the youth pleaded guilty to charges of criminal damage to property of more than $300.

“I’ve never heard of anybody that young being placed in the McLean County jail,” said Ronda Glenn, an attorney appointed to represent the boy’s mother in custody proceedings.

“I think the judge surprised everyone in the courtroom,” said Patrick O’Rourke, the boy’s attorney. “I think the judge was thinking of deterring future delinquency. Who knows whether it will have that effect?”

Caisley could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He was not in his office Tuesday afternoon, said a woman who didn’t identify herself. His wife, who didn’t give her name, said he was not at home.

The boy was placed in the juvenile section of the jail away from other juvenile inmates, O’Rourke said.

Both Glenn and O’Rourke opposed sending the boy to jail, as did Ben Roth, the prosecutor in the case. However, the attorneys said the judge was disturbed by the boy’s record of repeated trouble with police.

“I think the concern was with the boy’s lengthy list of police contact,” Glenn said.

“Although the boy admitted only to this particular offense, the child had a list of police contacts four pages long. They all had been handled informally or through the Department of Children and Family Services, as is usually the case with someone that young.”

Glenn said the judge wanted to show the youth that breaking the law carried a serious penalty.

“I think the judge wanted the boy to learn there are consequences for his actions,” she said.

O’Rourke said the judge was disturbed at the behavior of such a young boy, who admitted damaging gauges on an asphalt machine owned by Stark Excavating in Bloomington last October.

According to court records, the boy lived in a low-income neighborhood in Bloomington. He was accused of several other offenses, including burglary, threatening another child with a knife, and setting another child’s hair on fire. However, O’Rourke said none of those allegations had been proven.

“He had never been to court before on a delinquency petition,” O’Rourke said. “The police contact list includes any investigation where his name was brought up or any arrest. But no charges were ever brought against him before.”

Glenn said the boy was placed in a foster home Monday because Caisley also transferred guardianship to the Department of Children and Family Services, despite recommendations from the agency that the boy be returned home.

An unidentified jail spokesman said the boy received tutoring while in jail and was believed to be the youngest inmate to serve time in the jail.