The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in the dock of a Children's Court last week to be sentenced.

He pleaded guilty to a string of charges on April 23, including five counts of car theft of which some vehicles were of a high value and located in Ballarat.

The prosecution withdrew all aggravated burglary charges relating to the car thefts against the boy.

The teenager's offending occurred from November 25 to April 6, while he was on probation, and he was remanded in youth detention three times during that period.

On December 25, the teenager stole a $40,800 Kia Seltos wagon from a Ballarat East address while the following day, he stole a $15,000 Ford Falcon from a Sebastopol address.

He was accused of attempting to steal a number of vehicles and committed other offending across Ballarat with older co-accused in early February.

On February 12, the boy stole a $2000 Peugeot from a Black Hill address and on the same day stole a $60,000 Nissan Navara from a Ballarat address.

Also on February 12, he used a stolen credit card at Ballarat Woolworths supermarket twice to buy groceries and the following day, he again used a stolen credit card at Woolworths Stockland Wendouree.

These charges followed a major police operation involving the air wing after a stolen vehicle was allegedly driven throughout Ballarat and two people were arrested.

At the end of the teenager's crime spree on April 6 a day before he was arrested, he stole a $35,000 Ford Mondeo from a Lake Gardens address.

The magistrate told the boy he engaged in bad criminal behaviour which had impacted community members.

"The situation is aggravated because the offending was committed while on bail and two probation orders," the magistrate said.

The boy's defence counsel urged the court to consider sentencing the boy to youth supervision and not imprisonment because he was a "vulnerable young man".

The magistrate said the boy had a complete network of services to support his wellbeing and his culture. She said she took into account the teenager's age, Aboriginality, intellectual disability and his family situation.

"He is a risk of being institutionalised," the magistrate said.

The teenager was sentenced to a 12-month youth attendance order and released from custody. His driver's licence was suspended for three months.

He had spent 76 days on remand.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.