What is the statue of limitations for statuatory rape....?

[Teri N]

What is the name of your state? California

My son 16 yrs old/ girl 19 yrs old.

Thank you

[Pfaffing85690]

Thank you for that information.

[Teri N]

Not meant for me?

[Pfaffing85690]

There is no information on which to base any opinion.

Just because the girl is 19 and the boy 16 there is a LOT more that is needed.

For example, how long has the 'relationship' being going on? Is there consentual sex? Was there sexual contact?

See? It's a little like me asking you "How often do you beat your child?"

[Ramoth]

"How often do you beat your child?"

Ooh ooh! I can answer that one! As often as necessary and then some!

[Son of Slam]

Originally posted by Teri N
What is the name of your state? California

My son 16 yrs old/ girl 19 yrs old.

Thank you

Back in my day, we would have said your son was a lucky boy.

[Teri N]

He probably thought he was lucky at the time also. He sure hasn't for about the last 8-9 yrs now though having to pay a steep child support payment for a child he has only seen a few times. Shortly after their 'romantic interlude' she moved back down to L.A., called a few months later and said she was pregnant with my sons child. I was working a full time job plus part time at another and didn't take my son down as she requested. 'By that time my son was back with his long term girlfriend and wasn't concerned about going down south'. At only 16 yrs there was no way I would let him go so far from home alone. Never once did he go to L.A. but yet somehow she managed to come up with his supposed signature on the birth certificate. I live in a small town. Once I found out about her I started asking around and she could have been pregnant by just about any male 16 + and not necessarily even from here! There is so much more to this it would take a week to explain. -I just feel she was guilty of statuatory rape but yet it is my son that has to pay...and it just doesn't seem right.
I just thought there was a statute of limitations for different things. I didn't realize there was alot to it and that is why I didn't come back and post anything until you made me laugh with what you said! Thanks for making my day! Teri

[Pfaffing85690]

The first thing to tell you is that you have no dog in this fight.

Your son, however, should forget about the statutory rape idea. He was a willing participant and as such won't be able to make much of a case.

On the issue of child support, first he needs to challenge paternity. To do that he will have to either hire an attorney or file a petition to establish paternity.

It's not a simple thing since there is already a court order for child support. (OR IS THERE?) However, although there is a statute of limitations on challenging paternity, there is none for challenging paternity on the basis of fraud.

He will have to show that he never signed the birth certificate, never signed any acknowledgment of paternity and the paternity test proves him NOT the father.

My question is, when this was going on where the hell was he? The time to have done all this was when he received notice of a hearing to establish support when it was originally filed.

[Teri N]

If a 16 yr old girl is consensual and has sex with a 19 yr old boy it would be considered stat rape. Girls supposedly mature sooner than boys and still under the age of 18 can't make their own decisions legally about having sex. ...How can it be nothing and forget it when the boy is supposedly slower at maturing then a girl of the same age? Seems a girl of 19 having sex with a boy 16 should receive an even greater charge!

My son has never even considered filing charges against the girl. The stat of limitations question just came to me one day and I asked it here. I thought it would be a quick and simple answer..but I can see I was quite wrong!

[Son of Slam]

Originally posted by Teri N
If a 16 yr old girl is consensual and has sex with a 19 yr old boy it would be considered stat rape. Girls supposedly mature sooner than boys ...... Seems a girl of 19 having sex with a boy 16 should receive an even greater charge!

Seems people forget which walks around for months with a protruding belly and then has to care for a dependent human, often times, without the help of the other.

[djohnson]

Is he paying her court ordered support? How did it get court ordered with out him being given notice? Didn't paternity have to be proven at that point? It seems like there is much more to this story.

[Keaira3104]

When the child's born the father can sign a Affidavit of Paternity and then he can be court ordered to pay child support whether or not there is proof of it. But seeing as the boy was not even in LA at the time of the kids birth Im not quite sure how that all happened.....

[rs909b]

If a 16 yr old girl is consensual and has sex with a 19 yr old boy it would be considered stat rape. Girls supposedly mature sooner than boys and still under the age of 18 can't make their own decisions legally about having sex.

That's your opinion. Being a male in my twenties and still young enough to remember high school, I don't believe either sex matures earlier emotionally on the whole. That myth may extend from the pre-1960's era when girls were expected to act 'prim and proper' while boys were allowed more freedom. In a sexual sense emotionally, boys may actually adopt mature attitudes toward sexual activity earlier than girls. A study reviewed cases of alleged rape at a major midwestern university and found that half of the girls alleging rape at some point admitted to their therapists that they had lied about the incident. A smaller but significant percentage of teenage girls have a tendency to feel dirty and used after casual sex, or feel guilty in general after sex among other things. Reports of these things are virtually non-existent among young males, which is one of the reasons why age of consent laws are more important to protect girls than boys for psychological reasons. A study reported on CNN and other news networks within the last couple of months found that sexual activity was important to teenaged boys' self esteem and self image, and found a negative correlation with females. I think society recognizes this as well with the differing attitudes towards whether the younger person is male or female.

...How can it be nothing and forget it when the boy is supposedly slower at maturing then a girl of the same age? Seems a girl of 19 having sex with a boy 16 should receive an even greater charge!

Again, I don't think many people agree with this; it is widespread myth. In the event that you don't understand, perhaps you should take a tour through a female freshman dorm in college and see reality. If anything, it may be slightly the opposite.

My son has never even considered filing charges against the girl. The stat of limitations question just came to me one day and I asked it here. I thought it would be a quick and simple answer..but I can see I was quite wrong!

I would hope that he wouldn't have because it would be abnormal for a man to cry rape and claim he was victimized when he was a young man of (16!). It is legally not possible to pursue charges at this point. But why on earth would you or your son even consider this. Going to court and crying rape would be extremely embarrassing and shameful for a male. At the time, when he was a minor, had you pursued this you would have only caused him permanent psychological harm and publicly embarrassed him. I can't imagine any adult male or high school aged male ever even dreaming of it. I could understand if he were 12 at the time of conception. But he was not. He was a young man of 16; most males at this age are sexually active. Also, it would not surprise me at all to find out the truth was that 'he' was the one who seduced 'her', and that they were on a similar emotional level at the time, or that he was even a little more mature emotionally than she was. Moreover, the girl was only a few years older than him. It's not as if she was 35. You should be considering what is best for his emotional well-being, not trying to punish this young woman. It's not going to help her, it's not going to help him, and it's certainly not going to help your grandchild who likely wants both his mother and father to be there for him. Might I remind you again that your son and this girl are only three years apart in age and that they are adults? The young minor grandchild is the one who is going to suffer from all of this nonsense. Think of your grandchild for Christ's sake and what is best for him/der, and stop being so selfish. You should be encouraing cooperation among the two in raising their child, and also trying to a facilitate friendship. You should 'try' to be friendly with her, and hope that the father and the mother can also be friends and get along for the sake of the child. Grow up, start looking at this OBJECTIVELY rather than allowing your sore feelings to guide you, and stop acting immature about all of this. You're going to have to bury the hatchet towards this girl. You're only damaging yourself and everyone else involved.

If you don't believe that the child is necessarily his biologically, perhaps you would like to encourage him to have testing done so that both you and he can put your minds to rest on the matter. Given the amount of time which has elapsed and the age of the child at this point, if you wanted to do paternity testing I would suggest you get it done immediately rather than waiting.

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state? California

My son 16 yrs old/ girl 19 yrs old.

Thank you

In California, PC 261.5 covers statutory rape. Unlawful sexual intercourse (previously known as "statutory rape") is an act of sexual intercourse with a person who is a minor (under 18) and not the spouse of the perpetrator. The offense occurs even if the act is consensual and voluntary.

PC 261.5:

(a) Unlawful sexual intercourse is an act of sexual
intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the
perpetrator, if the person is a minor. For the purposes of this
section, a "minor" is a person under the age of 18 years and an
"adult" is a person who is at least 18 years of age.

(b) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is not more than three years older or
three years younger than the perpetrator, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

So, it would seem that this case is a misdemeanor. And as such, I believe it has a statute of limitiations for criminal prosecution of one year.

Carl

[ptlmejo]

I don't know about Cali law, but is there something in the statues relating to pregnancy involvement? I know in WI there is, and it would escalate that to a felony.