This may come as a surprise to you, but you are reading the words of a former criminal. When I was twelve years old, before I knew Jesus, I committed a crime. At the urging of some negative influences in my life, I stole something, was caught, arrested, suspended from school, and charged with theft. In the United States, when a person is arrested and charged with a crime, at some point he or she must go to court and stand before a judge.