Pressing Charges as an Adult...

[Gin0710]

If someone was molested or sexually assaulted as a child and they know who did it, could that person presses charges against that person when they become an adult? Same with stagetory rape cases...can a then under 18 year old press charges against the adult they had sex with as an adult?

 

[Rhoda D'Ettore]

This is a state law, therefore it will defer. I believe most states are 4-5 years after the 18th birthday. The only exception is that some people have repressed memories. So say you are 25 and you suddenly start having nightmares. You can talk to the lawyers/prosecutors/police about pressing charges. I just don't know how someone would prove they did not remember before hand.

 

[Gelsemium]

So that person has to wait until he's 18 to press charges? I think I am missing the point here.

 

[DancingLady]

No, you don't have to wait. I think what they are asking about is cases where someone was abused/raped when under 18 but for some reason was unable to prosecute right after it happened. There are all sort of reasons why this might occur. For instance a 12 year old girl may be to ashamed to tell anyone that someone was abusing her. Sometimes the victim is threatened that they will be harmed more if they tell, or is convinced by the perpetrator that no one will believe them.

I believe you can press charges, but there may be some restrictions on time frame. I think that is how all those allegations against priests came out. I don't know how many were able to prosecute as many of those victims did not come forward for many years due to shame, fear ect.

 

[januz101]

In our place a time frame of 10 years is required for you to press charges against someone for committing a crime. I believe that is the allotted time frame set by the court to file a case. Other than that you need to have a solid evidence to back your claim, because a rape case or sexual abuse for that matter would need to have a solid medical evidence for the case to prosper.

 

[Gin0710]

So that person has to wait until he's 18 to press charges? I think I am missing the point here.

You are, but that's okay. Maybe I should explain better. Say a kid (9 or 10 years old) was molested or sexually assaulted by someone they knew. As a kid, he or she doesn't know any better or like someone else said, they were scared and ashamed of it. So they never told anyone or did anything about it. Years go by, the kid is an adult, the adult experiences a lot of trauma and anxiety because of what happened to them as a child. Can the now adult, press charges against the person who sexually assaulted them?

 

[Popcorn365]

This is completely dependent on the state in which you live. In some states like New York you only have 5 years past your 18th birthday and in others your have 10. Florida, as do a few other states, has both a criminal and civil sexual abuse statute of limitations and they have very different time frames. You will want to check into your specific state guidelines to know for sure.