Sex Abuse Accusation By A Minor Against Another Minor

State: New Jersey

Accusation:
Younger brother accusing older brother of sexual molestation from ages 4 to 8. Older brother is 8 years older, so he would be 12 to 16. Younger brother claims that he thought it was ok when he was a child, but is coming forward now because he realizes that it is was wrong. He is currently 20 years old, therefore the older brother is 28 years old.

Additional Information:
Claim is that there was oral sex and sodomy between brothers.
Younger brothers says that this is not a repressed memory, but a secret he has been harboring for years.

Questions:
Can a 16 year old be held accountable for these actions, if he is a minor?
Can this be tried as an adult criminal offenese?
What criminal laws does this fall under?
Is there a statue of limitations on this?

Thanx for replying, but that still leaves more open questions.

1) What is the law in New Jersey regarding this?
2) This is not just an offense against a minor, it is by another minor, how does that make it different?

Quote:

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Quoting New Jersey Statutes §*2C:1-6 - Time Limitations

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(4) A prosecution for an offense set forth in N.J.S.2C:14-3 [Aggravated criminal sexual contact; criminal sexual contact] or N.J.S.2C:24-4 [Endangering welfare of children], when the victim at the time of the offense is below the age of 18 years, must be commenced within five years of the victim's attaining the age of 18 or within two years of the discovery of the offense by the victim, whichever is later;

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So prosecution appears possible until the victim turns 23. As is outlined here, New Jersey will waive juvenile jurisdiction over certain sex offenders to adult courts even before they turn 18, and may waive jurisdiction to adult courts for offenders who turn 18 before prosecution.

Quote:

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Quoting aaron

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So prosecution appears possible until the victim turns 23. As is outlined here, New Jersey will waive juvenile jurisdiction over certain sex offenders to adult courts even before they turn 18, and may waive jurisdiction to adult courts for offenders who turn 18 before prosecution.

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I'm sorry, I'm don't have a legal background, can you explain in layman's terms what the waiving of juvenile jurisdiction means? Does that mean, even though the accused was a minor at the time of the offense, he can be tried as an adult? Thank you.

If juvenile court jurisdiction is waived, the matter is prosecuted as an adult matter in adult court.

Quote:

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Quoting aaron

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If juvenile court jurisdiction is waived, the matter is prosecuted as an adult matter in adult court.

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Who makes that decision? A judge or a jury? How is that decided?

Read the document previously linked.

Thanx for all the prompt responses. Next question and please bear with me as I really don't know much about properly reading and interpretting the laws. As I understand it:

1)Something like the case presented above would go before a judge to decide if it will go to trial, correct?
2)At that point a judge will also decide if it is eligible for adult trial and not a juvenille offense, correct?

If that is so, in this case where the younger brother says this happened up until the age of 8. Is his testimony of this enough for the judge to decide or is it taken under consideration that his memory could be faulty and it may have only been til the age of 6. In this case, specifically that makes the difference for the older brother being 16 or 14. It would seem that 14 would be much less likely to be considered an adult. Am I wrong in that thinking? Thank you.

Ask your Attorney. Keep in mind Scott Peterson was convicted of first degree murder (not saying he is innocent) with nothing but circumstancial evidence. So yes you can be convicted on the tesitmony of a minor. In many pedophile cases the only evidence is child testimony

Quote:

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Quoting panther10758

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Ask your Attorney. Keep in mind Scott Peterson was convicted of first degree murder (not saying he is innocent) with nothing but circumstancial evidence. So yes you can be convicted on the tesitmony of a minor. In many pedophile cases the only evidence is child testimony

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That didn't really answer either of my questions.