15 year old girl 18 year old boy in texas

[solisk]

hi first of all we live in the state of texas
I have a question my brother got his girlfriend pregnant last summer at the time she was 15 and he was 18. at the time her parents told her if he came around or tried to contact her they would call the police and press charges. so he did. my question is could they have really done this and if so what would have happened to him. my other question is if they end up getting pregnant again and she is 17 and he is 19 can her parents still press charges and get him in trouble. these two have been together since she was 13 and plan on getting married when she turns 18

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Potentially, he can be guilty of a felony under the circumstances you outlined.

 

[stealth2]

Since your parents have obviously dropped the sex ed ball wrt to your brother, I would suggest you pick it up. One unplanned pregnancy is an accident. A second is stupidity and ignorance. Educate your brother.

Even if the girl is old enough to legally consent to sex, until she is 18 her parents rule her life. They certainly can get your brother in trouble. And, frankly, they should. He obviously doesn't respect their daughter enough to ensure she does NOT end up pregnant again. Not the kind of guy most parents would want around their daughter.

 

[CavemanLawyer]

There is a three year affirmative defense as long as she is over 14 and it is consensual (couple other caveats.) You'd need to look at their actual birthdays and do the math to see if they are within 3 years of each other. If so, he could technically still be charged with either sexual assault or indecency with a child but he would have an absolute defense, and realistically he would never be charged. Of course if they were having sex prior to her being 14 then the defense doesn't apply and there is no statute of limitations. Once she turns 17 she can legally consent to have sex.

Notwithstanding an affirmative defense to the above charges, he could still get in trouble for other offenses depending on how much the girl defies her parents, like harboring a runaway or enticing a child (aka: interfering with the parental custody.) Also if he took nude photos of her he could be charged with child pornography. There are probably plenty of others too that could come up.

If he chooses to exercise his parental rights then he will have the right to visit his child unless otherwise ordered by the court. He also will have the right to contact this girl at a minimum to arrange visitations. He needs to play the role of dad for now, if that's what he wants, and he can marry her when she is 18 and they can go have as many kids as they want. But I hope they don't.

 

[stealth2]

If he chooses to exercise his parental rights then he will have the right to visit his child unless otherwise ordered by the court. He also will have the right to contact this girl at a minimum to arrange visitations. He needs to play the role of dad for now, if that's what he wants, and he can marry her when she is 18 and they can go have as many kids as they want. But I hope they don't.

It's not clear that she actually HAD a child at 15 - just that she got pregnant.