Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

My daughter(14yrs old) accused her stepdad of touching her inappropriately, and giving/smoking pot with her. She did this at the school counselor's office, the Department of Children Services was involved, they came to my house and let me know of the allegations. He has not been in the home since, and has made no contact with her. When this came out, he went to get interviewed by the police, and he took a voice stress test, and failed, then confessed. The detective went to the Grand Jury and presented his case and the charges are ' Rape of a child' and 'contributing to a minor'. The detective told my husband that my daughter will be subpoenaed to give testimony to the Grand Jury in a couple weeks. My daughter does not want to go...is there a way to refuse testimony to the Grand Jury. There is no physical evidence, she said at first that he touched her vagina, he denied that there was any penetration. She is now backtracking and is saying that he didn't touch her there, but she is not recanting any other statements. The 'rape of a child' is for juveniles less than 13 years of age, but this happened when she was 14, how can they charge this? What is the punishment if my daughter refuses to speak to the Grand Jury, or if she absolutely has to, what is the result if she recants the statement that he touched her vagina? Will they pursue it anyway? Will they lessen the charges? Will it get dropped? In this case, he is going to lose his registry to do MRI scans for the A.R.R.T, and in turn will make it impossible to pay any child support, especially with a 25 to life sentence. What can I do in this situation? I have filed for divorce 2 days after he confessed, and I put in a no visitation affidavit for my other children that are biologically his...


Asked on 5/30/10, 8:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Bloodworth

1 - Rape of a child requires that the child be below the age of 13 at the time of the offense, not at the time of trial. So valid charges can be brought if a 14 year old says "it happened two years ago when I got the dog for Christmas" and at the Christmas where she received a dog, she was 12 years old.

2 - If there are already charges because "the detective went to the Grand Jury" (and the Grand Jury returned a "presentment" or "sealed indictment,") then the girl will not have to again appear before the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury is a committee of 13 citizens who review cases in secret and decide when enough evidence exists to justify a trial. I suspect you are confusing it with the "petite jury," the jury of 12 at a trial who decides guilty or not guilty. There is no general right to refuse to testify in fron of a trial jury.

3 - As far as your other questions: THere are many alternatives to resolve the case short of trial.

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Answered on 5/31/10, 9:00 am


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