There are certain instances and cases in which an adult ends up luring a minor into committing an act of delinquency. In most cases the adult actually encourages or gives a way to the minor for committing a delinquent act. This crime was first coined as a crime in the state of Colorado in the year 1903. Since then many other states have followed in making the same law and have made this crime punishable. Juvenile delinquency is actually a crime that is committed by a minor but it is not tried in the same way as an adult is tried for a crime. It is tried in a separate system that is outside of the usual criminal justice system.
The most common case is when an adult provides alcohol to a minor. Possession or consumption of alcohol is illegal for a minor and it is counted as an act of delinquency. If an adult helps a minor in getting his or her hands on a keg of beer then he or she is encouraging the minor to commit the crime of possessing or consuming alcohol. In this case it is not necessary that the person will only be charged if the minor possesses the said alcohol or consumes the said alcohol. It is enough that the adult was involved in getting that alcohol into the hands of the minor in the first place.
In every single state of America it is a crime to help a minor in committing a crime. That includes Maryland too. The law differs slightly in most cases but the overall idea or the scope is the same everywhere. In most of the states the suspect will be at least charged with a crime of misdemeanor if they make anything illegal accessible to a minor. If an adult commits the act of making something accessible or fails to perform their duty of looking after the child, when they were supposed to and the child inadvertently ended up indulging in a crime then the adult will be charged with contributing to delinquency of a minor.
In most cases only legal guardians, parents or other people directly responsible for taking care of the minor will be charged with this crime if there has been a negligence. Although some cases will also be open to charging a workplace employee or anyone who is in close proximity to the minor. However, very rarely a stranger might also be charged with the same crime if the delinquency is of the kind that has affected the minor in a big way. In some states it is only important for the police that the suspect had the intent of luring the minor and it will not matter if the minor actually committed the act of delinquency or not. In the case where an adult offers alcohol there are two charges that can be applied, the other one is that of offering alcohol to someone who is younger than the age of 21. In that case it will be up to the prosecutors to plead both charges or one of them.