Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Jersey

assault?/harassment?/trespassing?

I had a family situation a couple of weeks ago. My girlfriend and I took a trip to PA to visit my biological father for the first time in 15 years after I had been talking on the phone with him since October of 2008 (my parents have been divorced since the early 1990s and my mother won sole custody of me). We talked about meeting, but I thought it would be nice to surprise him at his home. When he opened the door, he started crying (in a happy way) and invited me in to meet his new wife and 2 year old daughter (my half-sister). We stayed there for an hour and then said our goodbyes. As we were walking out the door, I asked him if he would like to settle child support money issues outside of court to make it easier on him and his family (he owes my mother thousands of dollars through court). He immediately got scared, kicked me and my girlfriend out the house, and called his police department. He made false allegations aganist me, stating that I physically assaulted him and verbally threatened him. I did no such thing. His police department called me and threatened me with arrest if I contacted him in ''any way, shape or form'', but what could I even be charged with if I visited, or even if I called again? By the way, I live in NJ.


Asked on 2/10/09, 3:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gary Moore Gary Moore Attorney At Law

Re: assault?/harassment?/trespassing?

You got the cart before the horse. You hit him hard with a demand for money, making that the chief reason for your visit. Unless he is earning a great deal of money your demand poses a great threat to his new family. His reaction was predictable. Unless he earns more than enough to pay his basic bills he is going to fight you tooth and nail.

You will have to be practical and assess you current needs and then make some limited request of him.

Gary Moore

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Answered on 2/11/09, 10:08 am


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