I agree that it's ridiculous to drag a kid through the legal system for 18 months. Ideally, criminal cases involving minors (and individuals in general) need to be fast-tracked, and there should be a strict limit (measured in weeks, not months) on how long prosecutors can take to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody committed a crime. If they can't prove it before the timeout, the defendant goes free. This should also reduce the incentive to stack one frivolous charge upon another for psychological effect. Aaron Swartz committed suicide just over two years after he was first arrested. He never faced an actual trial during those two years, only an endless series of indictments with minor changes.

But as I said, this is a double-edged sword. People need time to collect evidence and arrange witness testimonies, so insisting on a quick resolution could create bias in favor of those who can pay for a lot of lawyer-hours up front.