Legal Question in Criminal Law in Missouri

For a class I'm in I was wondering if it's possible for an individual to be charged with a crime that was not reported when they were a child? For example: An individual committed the crime of theft/arson and bestiality as a child not knowing any better (unreported crime), but as a child cleaned up their act and became an outstanding citizen once they discovered it was wrong and is now an adult. Could they be charged for something they no longer take part in? I know that in the case of murder someone should still be able to be charge with a crime, but I was curious as to lesser crimes.


Asked on 5/17/15, 2:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Almost anyone can be charged or acused of a crime. The real question is "can they he convicted?". It is very unlikely that a person over the age of 18could be convicted of non murder acts that occurred before they turned 13. You wrote of a child committing a crime, but gave no age. Most criminal statutes have a five years or less y

Period in which charges can be brought. For acts committed after age 13, the question is not as easily answered, but one must keep inind that any conviction would be through the juvenile justice system..

Good luck

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Answered on 5/18/15, 7:09 am


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