Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico
If a child is gay, and is being abused by her father at home for it.. and the mother hasnt been in her life since she was 3, and she runs away to stay with a friend without the parents knowing, could the friend get into any legal trouble with taking her in? Especially if she was the girl the daughter was gay with? And also, if i was to call the police, would her and her brother be taken away? Or would she get to stay with the step mother who is a horrible alcoholic and the father does marijuana?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If the father (or anybody) is abusing her you are required by law to report the abuse to CYFD (Children Youth and Families Department) or to the police.
You can also reprt to CYFD that the child or family is in need of family services under the Family Services Act.
There's no law against running away but anyone who takes her in could be charged criminally with interference with child custody.
Depending on the relative ages of the child and the friend, and what their gay activities were, the friend could be charged with a sex offense.
If the CYFD investigates and find the child is in need of supervision or is being abused or neglected they have a lot of options including removing the child from the home and placing her in foster care or with another family member. Also, a family member or other qualifed adult could get a kinship guardianship.
Dealing with CYFD is frustrating and time-consuming. But the report of abuse or neglect is mandatory under the law.
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