Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

A friend of mine confided in to me some serious information.

My friend had been depressed for quite some time. Eveutally I started asking her what was wrong, dispite her constant advoince of teh reason of answer ing teh question. Finially one day she broke adn told me that she was afraid her life was going to be over. She sais when she was younger her adn her brother woudl play house adn they laid on top of each other adn moved back n forth, but never penarated each other.

She said that she was wiling to confess to what she allowed ot happen out of ignorance but woudln't taek teh blame for fasle aquscations. SHe said her younger brother now in his early 20s was making upp extar details that didn't ocure between them adn he was resentful towards her becasue of what happened adn tcurretn day enimity between them.

Some brife history on her brother:

Two times in his life he has been accused of moslestiong younger boys. Most recently by am ex-girlfriend f his. When teh case was brough tto court last year her fmaily wanted her to lie baou ttimes places adn location she wasn't at. So she told them she wouldn't adqn the yall tunred on her. Now these accusatiosn start.

She thinks that even if it did go to court adn she won adn was foudn innocent peple woudl never trust her again adn her lie woudl be ruined forever. She is sucidel adn unsure of herself righ tnow. She asked me if I thought what she did wa child molestaion.

The way she explained why teh sisutaion even occured:

She said at a young age y( am guesisng younnge rthan 9) she was molested by one of her grandparents. She woudl spen dthe nigh tover thsi person's house adn they woudl try adn masterbae her.( just rubbing adn touching but not penatrating). SHe was very honest with me adn told me that if was tramatic but evetually she became to numb out her feelings when i twas going on. She said she also started paying attention the teh bodys natural reaction to stumilation( I don't hink she meant full blwon) but she said she noticed teh feeling it produced when they did it.

This combined with wittnessing blant sexual behavior by t her babysitter ( which she said her otehr siblings wittnessed to ) adn by her parents. People in teh house were open with their sexuality ( not harming teh childern or abusing them ) but nonthe less exspouing them to all kinds of things theyr were to young to Know and Understand. : Her mother adn her a eneamsy for many resaons( among them not wantting to perticpate in her get ricjh quick schems with her adn her otehr siblings). and many more issues adn her brother is angery with her esp over pety travial thinsg leadingup to the whole trail that she refused to testify at.

Now he is claimng pedhia behavior rubbing touching many incidents ect ect. But she sasy all that ever happened was teh 3 or 4 times where they played house and they both with undwear on or clothing laid on top of each other moving back n forth. She sais she even told her brother that hat teh ytime that she was curiosu about what "mom and dad do" and that he acknldoged he has seen adn heard. 8the too. It wasn't a forced thing but I think she knows she was an older child but didn't haev commn sense and basic facts of life knowldge to edacuate hr in teh righ tbehavi or atleast give her mre ooptions. She knows it wasn't wright or natural now adn understands basic huma ninteraction between male female repproduction ect ect. But at teh time she didn't. I don't think she is a pedhipa. I hoep not but I do feel sh emay be unintentioall or ignnorantly commited child abuse. I told her I woudl perosnally try to figure out what teh law consdiers cidl abuse ect . Is she a pedifile. She is a very blunt honest person., to teh point it has gpotton her in trouble. Most recently sh ehas becoem apart of a faith devout adn this evenmore so causes her to be very direct adn honest baout htinsg even if its going to hurt or casue problems for her. So I believe her story. I don't think it is matter of her brother denying what happed as happeneing but is him trying to make her pay for ( whatevr he wodul ptu in the blank) by adding to what really happed ect.

What shoudl she do, at teh time she was 9 and he was 7 years old. Now she is 23 and he is 20 soon to be 21. There were no witnessed besides his faternal twin who radnomly was ikn the room. And its not liek it was hidden. Mayeb some people fogot about it but she did tell her mother teh last time it happened adn was open adn hoenst about what it was going on.( I already told you that part of her story). So is she a pedifil. I think she knows for sure as anyone would ( her sexual prefences adn it never has been for littel kids adn isn;t now and never wil be) This was not why what happened happened . But is she by law condsindered a pedifia ? Did she technially commit child abuse against her brother and teh oter hkid( Her childhood best friend who jshe just touched his privaet with one pointed finger then recoiled becasue she thought it looked groos up close ). ..?

If her brither contues to lie adn his mother supports his lies becasue they are enstranged now and hate eachother what shoudl she do. She says as she told me she is willing to confess to what happened adn what she did BUT she will not tolrate people lying about her behaviore. She has been knwo to take responablitiy and be a all aroind hoenst person , even when it hasn'r bemfited her. What si your call.

Sincerely, Anon- friend


Asked on 12/23/09, 12:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Charles A. Pascal, Jr. Law Office of Charles A. Pascal, Jr.

I have no idea what the point of this is. If she was 9 and he was 7, there was no crime. A pedophile is someone who has sex with pre-pubescent people, but if they themselves are pre-pubescent, it certainly is not pedophilia.

There is no reason for her to confess to anything. There is no crime. Besides, it happened too long ago for it to be considered a crime now anyway, even if it had been a crime to begin with, which it wasn't.

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Answered on 12/28/09, 12:38 pm


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