[diver0077]

My daughter is 17 years old and has a friend that is 17 years old and currently living with her mom. But she claims that her mom hits her and that her mom's boyfriend has threatened to kill her. She has reported this to the Child Services and has runaway before reaching 17 years old but they sent her back to her mom. My daughter wants her to stay with us for a while now that she is 17. My question is what kind of legal problems could I have if any and is her mom still responsible for her health care etc. Are there any other problems that I could run up against if I do this.

[aaron]

The law varies by state.

[diver0077]

I'm sorry, I live in Michigan and the girl does also. I talked with the State police and they said they would not come and pick her up because she is an adult according to the courts in Michigan. But, I do not know if there is any other legal accepts I should consider.

[aaron]

There are two laws which come to mind. The first, MCL 3.704, relates to the jurisdiction of the probate court, and enables a juvenile court to order a child below the age of 18 returned to his or her home. The second relates to harboring a runaway:

No person shall knowingly and wilfully aid or abet a child under the age of 17 years to violate an order of a juvenile court or knowingly and wilfully conceal or harbor juvenile runaways who have taken flight from the custody of the court, their parents or legal guardian.

So if you don't help the girl disobey any court orders, and make no effort to conceal or harbor her from the court or her parents, you would not be in violation of that statute. The Court of Appeals has explained,

We infer that an essential of the crime of "aiding and abetting" or "harboring" a runaway juvenile is an intent to encourage, counsel, or assist the juvenile in evading lawful custody. Mere knowledge that a person aided is a juvenile runaway is insufficient; otherwise, the statute would make innocent acts of charity criminal.