Legal Question in Criminal Law in Kentucky

I turned 18 on july 27th and have a 6month old son. When I was 16, I started dating an 23 year old boy and had a baby with him on Feb 22. My mom and dad hated him and sent me to a treatment center to get "emotional motivation". They brought me home a couple months before I had my son and forbitted us from being together. On Feb 15 my parents got a warrent on my boyfriend saying that i was with him an not at a friends house. They charged him with unlawful trans with minor 3rd degree. They got a charge on me for out of control juvenille from the times of 2008-2010. They allowed us to be together and live together for 1 year. When i found out i was pregnant is when they decided not to like him. I couldnt put his name on the birth cirtificate afraid they would charge him with 1st degree unlawful trans with minor. He didnt get a chance to see his son until I turned 18 and contacted him and we moved in with him. The jury trial is in October. Is there anything they can do to him or now that i am 18 is there anyway i can get this dismissed? What would be the best approach before his court date.. to get married and place his name on the birth certificate or now? PLEASE HELP ME..I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.


Asked on 8/31/10, 6:18 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrea Welker Welker Law Office

I can't even begin to describe how immensely sad your situation makes me, in particular how all of the adults in your life have failed you.

First, you did not begin dating a 23-year-old "boy." You began dating a 23-year-old man. You were a 16-year-old girl, also known in less polite circles as "jail bait." Just because the age of consent is 16 in Kentucky, does not mean that an adult dating a child is shielded from criminal liability, as I'm sure you both now realize. Unlawful transaction with a minor in the third degree applies to enticing a minor to engage in illegal behavior, for instance, drinking alcohol, or even simply inducing a minor to disobey his or her parents. The statute is KRS 530.070.

No, you cannot get this dismissed just because you finally turned 18. The crime was already committed. Putting his name on the birth certificate will not help him, and marrying him only to try to get him out of trouble is quite possibly the worst thing you can do for yourself and your child. If you want to help this man, who has fathered your child, stolen the remainder of your own adolescence, and thus limited your opportunities for advancement and education now that you are a young adult, then I suggest he retain an attorney to defend him against the criminal charge, which is a class A misdemeanor and punishable with up to 12 months imprisonment. If you want to help him, then you can cooperate with his attorney, as you will certainly be called to testify at trial.

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Answered on 9/05/10, 2:52 pm


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