This article examines legal protection for children serving custodial sentences in Special Child Development Institutions (LPKA), with particular attention to North Sulawesi. It uses normative or doctrinal legal research supported by limited sociolegal material reported from LPKA Class II Tomohon and related institutional information. Statutory and conceptual approaches are used to examine the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law, the Corrections Law, the Child Protection Law, and international child rights standards. The analysis shows that family conditions, peer environments, socioeconomic pressures, and developmental vulnerabilities may increase the risk of offending, but these factors should not be treated as the legal cause of placement in an LPKA. Under Indonesian law, imprisonment may only be imposed on a child who is at least 14 years old and must remain a measure of last resort. Children in LPKA retain rights to education, health care, physical and spiritual care, legal assistance, protection from violence, family contact, and reintegration programs. Effective protection therefore requires measurable rights fulfilment, adequate professional staffing, continuity of education, mental health support, family engagement, and reintegration planning from the beginning of the custodial period.