sexual assault

[coppermanandson]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio/PA
My daughter just confided to us that she was a victim of a sexual assault. This happened about 6 months ago in PA. We have since moved to Ohio. We had noticed a sharp decline in her personality and school work. At first we thought it was just the move, but as time has gone by she was going into a deep depression. So after much prodding she finally told us what happened.
My son had a friend overnight. Sometime during the night he went into my daughters room and assaulted her. She was so terrified she could not scream. She was 15 years old he was 14.
What can we do now? How do we proceed?
We are so angry that this happened in our home while we were there but don't know if anything can be done at this time.

 

[mistoffolees]

Contact the police immediately and file a report. Then get the girl in for counseling immediately. There is probably a crisis hotline in your area that you can call.

And I'd think seriously about whether son should have any more friends over. It's not so much a matter of punishing him - he may not have known what is going on - but it's a matter of telling the girl that you support her and will do anything to keep her safe.

 

[coppermanandson]

Would we report it to Ohio police or PA police. We are 400 miles from our old address.
My son had no idea this went on that night, It happened at 4:00 am in the morning. My son does remember that his friend was acting very strangely that day and said he was somewhat fearful of him. He regrets not telling us and carries a lot of guilt about not speaking up and asking us to take him home. They had been friends since they were 6. The kid may have done some sort of drugs but that would only be speculative. He had no history of drug use in fact his life style was quite the opposite.

 

[NellieBly]

You need to report it in the city where it occurred.

 

[anearthw]

You can call the local police and ask them if you can make an initial report to them. The file and charges would occur in the city where the incident took place, but agencies are sometimes willing to work together with some reports if there is a long distance and the crime is serious.