Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Child and father caught in the middle!

It could be argued that - - all things considered - - the situation your brother-in-law is in is easily recognizable as being one of his own making that he ought to have known, from the start, was potentially very difficult AND one in which he is not really in the best position to claim: "I'm being taken advantage of...".

Here's an indication of just how "perilous" the fellow's situation is with regard to the criminal law: The "ordinary" time frame within which a prosecution for a felony must be begun is 5 years - - except, for a sex offense against someone less than 18 years old, the time does not begin to run until *after* the victim becomes 18 years of age, or after the crime is reported to the authorities (including child welfare), which ever comes first.

So: unless the authorities already know about the unlawful sexual intercourse (you call it 'statutory rape'), if this is a felony, it could "hang fire" for 2 years until she's 18 PLUS the 'standard' 5 years [for a total of 7 years].

An argument could be made for the proposition that your brother-in-law should be content to make himself very small and be very quiet with regard to the girl, her family and the child.

Regards, etc.,

J.M.Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<