Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Re: sexually explicit contact (via email/IM) with a minor

This is a very dangerous situation from the viewpoint of the young man, especially if he is over 18 and knows her age. However, your daughter is free to cut off contact with him. She doesn't have to accept his instant messages. There is no way he can force himself on her over the internet so for her it is just a simple matter of cutting off contact. It is a crime to send obscene materials to a minor and this young man could be in a lot of trouble.

Re: sexually explicit contact (via email/IM) with a minor

Think. What makes sense to do here? First, do not delete the message yet. I suggest you get his number from your daughter's .txt message, then call AND .txt him, telling him he knows your daughter's age, so what he is doing is inappropriate and possibly illegal (depending upon his age which you do not know). Tell him to never contact your daughter again, or that you will report him to the police. If you call him, do NOT scream or threaten him other than to say you will report him to the police. If you can not do that w/o screaming or threatening, have someone else, like your attorney or someone who will remain calm make the call. If you feel very strongly, take the cell phone to the police, take your daughter if she looks young, and go and file an incident report with the police, to document the messages, in the event there are any future problems with this boy. Hopefully he is just a guy being stupid and insensitive to your daughter. KEEP IN MIND - for all you know, he is actually a good kid, or could be a good kid, but he has no good male model in his life, and a father being a good man and good father may actually be good for him to see. In other words, try to be the best father and best man you can be. A good father protects his family, but the best father does not need to blow up, and over react knowing only 1/2 the picture. Being a good father does not mean you can not step back, look at the biggest picture possible, be thoughtful, be understanding and a good man at the same time. This will also be a good example for your daughter as well. I represented a kid from Camden... I told him he was too smart to act so stupid and just follow the other guys being stupid (even if dealing with a knuckle-head, you don't say he was a smart kid, just too smart to be so stupid)... Would you believe that kid went back to get his GED, and got into Rowan College, because he later told me NO ONE had ever told him he was smart. That his family always told him they knew he'd get in trouble and fail because he was stupid. He said he went back and succeeded because I was educated and told him he could, so he believed ME instead of his family. We rarely ever know someone else we deal with, so protect your self and your family, but always ask yourself what don't you know before you act or especially before you may over react. Good luck.