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MALE VICTIMS OF STATUTORY RAPE ARE OBLIGATED TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT!
[EDITOR: We really thought we had seen it all until these articles began arriving in our email. A woman unlawfully has sexual contact and intercourse with a male and is charged with statutory rape. The union of the two produce a child.
The VICTIM -- the male -- *MUST* pay child support!]
CALIFORNIA: San Luis Obispo County v. Nathaniel J., ___ Cal. App. 4th ___, 57 Cal.
Rptr. 2d 843 (1996).
The policy of California's courts regarding defenses to child support may best be summed
up as,
"Be quiet and pay your child support." In addition to rejecting concealment of
the child as a defense
where the concealment ends during minority, California has also rejected as a defense to
child
support the fact that the father was a victim of statutory rape. Reasoning that the father
and mother
had consensual sex, the court saw no reason to excuse the father from the consequences of
his
actions. Statutory rape cannot be used as a financial shield. San Luis Obispo County v.
Nathaniel
J., ___ Cal. App. 4th ___, 57 Cal. Rptr. 2d 843 (1996).
Editor's Note: Recent decisions from other states agree that the fact that the father was
the victim of
statutory rape does not provide a defense to child support. S.F. v. Alabama ex rel. T.M.,
23 Fam. L.
Rep. (BNA) 1082 (Ala. Civ. App. Nov. 22, 1996); State ex rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer, 252
Kan. 646,
847 P.2d 1273 (1993); Jevning v. Chicos, 499 N.W.2d 515 (Minn. 1993); Mercer County v. Alf
M.,
155 Misc. 2d 703, 589 N.Y.S.2d 288 (Fam. Ct. 1992). From:
(http://www.divorcesource.com/research/dl/enforcement/97feb39a.shtml)
Current Cases
From: (http://www.backlash.com/content/gender/1996/11-nov96/ncm10.htm)
California: A case went up the appellate route, until it reached the U.S. Supreme Court,
and they refused to review it. No
explanation of why they refused to review it was offered. I read the man's argument in
this case, and in my opinion the
arguments for legalizing choice for men were weak. The man in this case wants to avoid
publicity.
Kansas: In the state which forced a boy who'd essentially been statutorially raped into
legal parenthood, another case is before
the Kansas Court of Appeals, and it's been requested to be transferred to the Kansas
Supreme Court. See: Spease, et al v.
Rooney. I haven't read the case.
Tennessee: A third case has been submitted to the Court of Appeals for the western section
of Tennessee, home of the Davis v. Davis case, which said that the party wishing to avoid
procreating should normally prevail (that's good). The man's argument in this case looks
pretty good to me.
More Boys Forced into Parenthood by Statutory Rape More raped boys forced into
fatherhood
Kentucky: Harlan County prosecutor Alan Wagers said his office would help a 27 year old
woman appeal a trial court's denial
of her lawsuit to get the father of her child to pay support. The father was 14 at the
time, essentially making him a victim of
statutory rape because he was too young to consent. Rush was never prosecuted. [Bowling
Green Daily News-AP, 5-3-96]
Colorado: The Rocky Mountain News reported on August 2, 1996 that Adams County is
attempting to recover AFDC
payments from a man who was about 12 when he was forced into parenthood, essentially by
statutory rape.
WOMAN WHO BABY-SAT TEEN ACCUSED OF RAPE
She Sued For Support of Baby She Says Is His
FROM: (http://www.vix.com/pub/men/rawdeal/reginacharge.html)
February 12th St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
By Nordeka English of the Post-Dispatch Staff
A former baby sitter in St. Charles County has been charged with raping a 13-year-old boy
she cared for in 1992. The incident
came to light late last year when the woman sued the boy for support of the baby she says
resulted from the union.
The St. Charles County prosecutor has charged the woman, Regina L. Vaughan, now 20 and
living in Mill Shoals, Ill., with
eight counts of rape and one count of sodomy. Each count is a felony that carries a
maximum penalty of life in prison.
The charge, filed Jan. 30, says the incidents took place between March 1992 and Aug. 12,
1992, three days after Vaughan
turned 18. Vaughan and the boy had lived in Portage des Sioux. The boy, now 16, has moved
to St. Louis County.
The boy's mother apparently learned of the sexual relationship after her son was served
noticed of a paternity suit by Illinois on
Vaughan's behalf. The boy's mother asked the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department to
investigate.
The state filed the paternity suit after Vaughan applied to the Illinois Department of
Public Aid for welfare, said a spokesman
for the Sherrif's Department.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois welfare department said the state's policy is to require an
applicant for public aid to name the
father of a child and then seek child support from the parent before collecting welfare
payments.
The state has no lower age limit when it comes to requiring child support payments from a
parent.
The boy's attorney, Byron Cohen of St. Louis County, said that Illinois had withdrawn the
suit, probably after finding out that
the boy had been under age and legally unable to consent to having sex with Vaughan. That
could not be confirmed because the suit has been sealed.
A St. Charles County judge has set Vaughan's bail at $20,000. She had not been arrested as
of Friday.
Date: Tue Sep 12 00:37:16 1995
update on the story:
I'm familiar with [this] case, and have spoken with the boy's attorney. The babysitter who
raped the boy had the unmittigated
gall to sue the boy for child support, after which the boy's mother asked the DA to
investigate for statutory rape. The DA
subsequently charged the babysitter with statutory rape, and the boy's attorney was under
the impression that the
BABYSITTER WITHDREW the suit seeking child support in hopes of avoiding prosecution for
statutory rape. (Perhaps she
withdrew her application for AFDC in hopes of avoiding rape charges.) In any event, the
boy's lawyer claims that the child
support suit could be resurrected at any point under Missouri law. After my discussion
with the boy's attorney, I was under the
impression that Missouri's laws did NOT protect boys, and that the only reason that this
particular boy wasn't being sued for
child support is that his rapist caused the charges to "go away" in hopes of
avoiding rape charges, and indeed those charges
have now been levied.
STATE of Kansas, ex rel., Colleen HERMESMANN, Appellee,
v. Shane SEYER, a minor, and Dan and Mary Seyer, his parents, Appellants.
No. 67,978. Supreme Court of Kansas. March 5, 1993. Syllabus by the
Court
Not archived. Read full text: (http://www.nas.com/c4m/rape_case.html)
Synopsis:
Colleen Hermesmann routinely provided care for Shane Seyer as a baby sitter or day care
provider during 1987 and
1988. The two began a sexual relationship at a time when Colleen was 16 years old and
Shane was only 12. The
relationship continued over a period of several months and the parties engaged in sexual
intercourse on an average of a
couple of times a week. As a result, a daughter, Melanie, was born to Colleen on May 30,
1989. At the time of the
conception of the child, Shane was 13 years old and Colleen was 17. Colleen applied for
and received financial
assistance through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (ADC) from SRS.
On January 15, 1991, the district attorney's office of Shawnee County filed a petition
requesting that Colleen
Hermesmann be adjudicated as a juvenile offender for engaging in the act of sexual
intercourse with a child under the age
of 16, Shanandoah (Shane) Seyer, to whom she was not married, in violation of K.S.A.1992
Supp. 21-3503.
Thereafter, Colleen Hermesmann entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney's
office, wherein she agreed to
stipulate to the lesser offense of contributing to a child's misconduct, K.S.A.1992 Supp.
21-3612. On September 11,
1991, the juvenile court accepted the stipulation, and adjudicated Colleen Hermesmann to
be a juvenile offender.
Shane's argument on appeal is based on three basic premises.
1.Shane Seyer, as a minor under the age of 16, was unable to consent to sexual
intercourse.
2.Because he was unable to consent to sexual intercourse, he cannot be held responsible
for the birth of his child.
3.Because he cannot be held responsible for the birth, he cannot be held jointly and
severally liable for the child's
support.
Family Law Update
FROM: (http://www.camft-sandiego.org/newsletter/1997/famlawja.html)
Statutory Rape Is Statutory Rape, unless you're willing, sometimes
by Lester Cohen, MFCC, JD
In County of San Luis Obispo v. Nathaniel J., the California Court of Appeals stated that
although a 15 year old boy who was
seduced by a 34 year old woman, was a victim of the 34 year old (she was prosecuted for
statutory rape), the 15 year old
father is obligated to pay child support to the child.
The 34 year old mother was prosecuted and convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a
minor. According to the criminal
court, the 15 year old was a victim. The willingness or lack of willingness of a 15 year
old having intercourse with a 34 year old,
was not an issue. Statutory rape is statutory rape with those age differences.
The father admitted paternity. The courts switched over to the family law component.
There, the same District Attorney's office
which said he was a victim of statutory rape, contended that the new born child should not
become a further victim by allowing
a parent (15 year old) to avoid the responsibility of supporting the child when and as he
is able. Father's attorney argued that
the California Constitution states that "all persons who suffer losses as a result of
criminal activity shall have the right to
restitution from the persons convicted of the crime for losses they suffer."
The clincher for the court, as it turned out, was that the 15 year old admitted that he
was a willing participant in the intercourse.
Although not relevant for the criminal action against the mother, the court found that the
willingness of the father did allow them
to differentiate between a minor who has been the victim of willing statutory rape and one
who was not a willing participant.
There is also a strong history of case law precedents in California and other states,
where courts have found that for purposes
of child support, voluntary intercourse resulting in voluntary parenthood, allows the
minor parent to be liable for the financial
support of the minor infant.