ExpertLaw.com Forums

Contact With A Minor's Genitals

Printable View

  • 04-03-2007, 11:19 AM
    karen1978
    Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    My husband who is 27 just told me that when he was 17 he touched a younger cousin's genitals a few times. He said he didnt stimulate the cousin or himself when he did it. He just touched. He said he was curious. I dont believe that he has done this again or will do it again. My problem is that I would like to talk to a couselor/therapist about this as I am traumatised by what he told me, but I am not sure whether they are under obligation to tell the authorities. The cousin is currently 21 and this happened in another country. We come from a conservative society where contact with the opposite sex is very limited.

    We live in Georgia.
  • 04-03-2007, 12:26 PM
    karen1978
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    I also wanted to add that there was no exposure of genitals of either of them. And no penetration of any sort.
  • 04-03-2007, 12:30 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    As you appear to know, the counselor would be a "mandatory reporter", in that she would be obligated to report what she believed to be substantiated incidents of sex abuse to the authorities. But under the circumstances you describe, with the incident occurring in a different country, the local authorities wouldn't have any jurisdiction over a potential criminal case.
  • 04-03-2007, 12:42 PM
    karen1978
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    Thank you for your reply. I have a few more questions.

    So, the counselor would still have to report it, though its never happened again and that it happened 10 years back in another country? And the cousin is now 21.

    And could there still be a public investigation? Would he be put on a sex-offenders list even if they couldnt pursue this?

    Also, is there a statute of limitations?
  • 04-03-2007, 12:54 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    If the counselor believed it to be a substantiated incident of sexual abuse, the counselor would have to report it to state authorities who would have no jurisdiction to act on the complaint. I have no idea if they would try to relay the information back to the other nation, assuming they even know what that nation is.

    Note: To the extent that you can still get a benefit from therapy without doing so, you don't have to state that it was your husband who told you this. You don't have to share your husband's name (although if you say "my husband" it probably wouldn't take much to figure it out). You don't have to identify the nation where this allegedly occurred.
  • 04-03-2007, 01:05 PM
    karen1978
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    Thank you once again for your reply.

    Your note at the end makes me feel like there is some hope. I did have one more question. If I were to talk to a therapist and not mention that it was my husband who did this, did not name the person or their relationship to me and yet the counselor suspected that it was someone closer to me, would they make me tell them? Or would they go to the police with their suspiscion?
  • 04-03-2007, 01:07 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    They cannot compel you to tell. If they go to the police with no name, about something which occurred in a different country, the police won't have anything to act upon.
  • 04-03-2007, 01:21 PM
    karen1978
    Re: Contact With A Minor's Genitals
    Thank you for your advise.
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:24 AM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4
Copyright © 2023 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved