Can my girlfriend's parents place a TRO on me?

What is the name of your state? Hawaii

I am an 18 year old girl and I have been dating a 15 year old girl now for about 7 1/2 months. Her Christian father and mother (divorced) are extremely unsupportive and unhappy about our relationship and have been from the day they found out, although the mom has shown to be more willing to accept this than the father. They have brought the topic of a TRO a number of times during conversations during conversations but have never gone through with it. My family knows of my relationship with this girl and they are supportive of us staying together.

I did a little research of my own and I have no TRO specificationfor the State of Hawaii that would give my girlfriend's family's case any real cause to be processed and served since I have never harmed her in any way; never threatened her; and have never done anything illegal with her. The only thing that I can think of that would be even remotely lawless would be going to her house without her father's permission. He had stated that I was not to enter his home, but if I was invited over by my girlfriend, would this be considered breaking and entering?

I also looked up the age of consent since I am now 18. I was 17 when we fisrt started dating and she turns 16 in July. The legal age of consent in Hawaii, from what I found through Google, is 16 years or 14 years if your partner is under the age of 18. I also learned that same-sex consent laws have been repealed in the State of Hawaii.

I have no idea what to do or how to go about any of this. My girlfriend's father has hit her many times in the past and her family seems to not care. My girlfriend refuses to turn him because she fears that he will lose his job and he hits her so well that there are never any bruises.

Any advice or contact information of someone I can get a hold will be more than helpful and appreciated! Thanks What is the name of your state?

Yes. The father can absolutely get a restraining order against an adult that refuses to stay away from his MINOR child. You are also trespassing on HIS property. You 15 year old girlfriend does not own her fathers home and has no right to invite you over when her father has specifically forbidden it.

Potential charges facing you:

Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor

Trespassing

Custodial Interference

Thank you so much for your help, but I was wondering if you or anyone else could help me a little more. I looked up the definition of "contributing..." and "custodial..." and they all seem to be dealing with the aiding, encouraging of illegal activites. Would I be subject to these charges only because I have "trespassed" on my girlfriend's father's property, or is it because I am seeing her against his will, or both? And if he were to hit again, is there any way for me to file charges against him?

Parents have absolute care and control over their minor children, which means (among other things) they can control who their children's friends are (sexual or otherwise). If you, an adult are annoying, molesting or otherwise having contact with their MINOR child, when they have told you to cease contact with said child, a restraining order can be sought against you, and further, you can be prosecuted.

I see. But the thing is I am not in anyway hurting my girlfriend. The person who feels annoyed or violated in any way is her father. Could he claim that I was hurting my girlfriend without any evidence and have to go through just because he is her father? And does the lack of a same-sex legal age of consent law have any weight here? Or is it over ruled by the legal age of consent since she doesn't turn 16 until July? I'm sorry if I am sounding naive, but I really have no clue about any of this.

jklm1108 said:

I see. But the thing is I am not in anyway hurting my girlfriend. The person who feels annoyed or violated in any way is her father. Could he claim that I was hurting my girlfriend without any evidence and have to go through just because he is her father?

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He doesn't have to prove that you are hurting her. All he has to prove is that he has legal authority over her, he's told YOU to leave her alone and you refuse. You then become an annoyance. I sure as hell would have you arrested if I were her father.

EVEN IF she were over the age of consent, as long as she is still a minor he can tell you to keep the hell away from her and make it stick. You're going to end up in jail if you don't pay attention. And it's got nothing to do with same sex/opposite sex laws; the answer would be exactly the same if one of you were male.

thank you to everyone who gave me advice. i really appreciate it! but here is a word of advice for everyone...

please remember that people's feelings are involved. try to steer away from comments that may make a person feel uncomfortable. opinons are great and i am all for expressing one's opinons, but whenyour opinon is worded in a way that comes off as pompous and judgmental it can hurt the person at the receiving end.

You need to learn to have a tougher skin - we are discussing criminal matters which could involve jail time. All of the answers have been on-topic and to the point. If you have been offended it is likely because you did not initially understand that having contact with a minor (even non-sexual contact) against parental directives can result in being arrested.

This has nothing to do with same-sex relationships or sexual contact.

jklm1108 said:

thank you to everyone who gave me advice. i really appreciate it! but here is a word of advice for everyone...

please remember that people's feelings are involved. try to steer away from comments that may make a person feel uncomfortable. opinons are great and i am all for expressing one's opinons, but whenyour opinon is worded in a way that comes off as pompous and judgmental it can hurt the person at the receiving end.

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This is a legal forum where legal issues are discussed, not a feel good or don't hurt my feelings forum. The responders here are volunteers who are either attorneys or professionals with a great deal of legal knowledge. If you don't like the answers, don't post anything.

Believe me, I understand that getting arrested is a possibility, and I very grateful for all of the advice that I was given. And I have been through a lot and being tough is not where I am lacking. I was slightly taken aback by a comment written at the end of a post, which by the way, had very good advice prior to the comment. And I say comment instead of opinion or advice, because this remark was a comment.

I don't believe that professionals and lawyers or anyone for that matter have any right to tell me that they feel if they were my girlfriend's father that they would sure as hell have me arrested. That does not sound like a very professional thing say, at least to me it doesn't. Other people who posted advice made it clear that getting arrested was a possibility without wording it the way Courtclerk did. I'm sorry if my last post was unclear about this matter. I didn't want to single anyone out.

jklm1108 said:

Believe me, I understand that getting arrested is a possibility, and I very grateful for all of the advice that I was given. And I have been through a lot and being tough is not where I am lacking. I was slightly taken aback by a comment written at the end of a post, which by the way, had very good advice prior to the comment. And I say comment instead of opinion or advice, because this remark was a comment.

I don't believe that professionals and lawyers or anyone for that matter have any right to tell me that they feel if they were my girlfriend's father that they would sure as hell have me arrested. That does not sound like a very professional thing say, at least to me it doesn't. Other people who posted advice made it clear that getting arrested was a possibility without wording it the way Courtclerk did. I'm sorry if my last post was unclear about this matter. I didn't want to single anyone out.

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(Speaking in the Royal "We" here...)

We don't care if you think we're "professional" or not. "Professional" indicates, at least in part, that a person is PAID for their services. We volunteer. We don't "owe" you jack.

You got free advice. Your legal question was properly answered.

Run along, now.