Mother Taking Revenge on Father

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: California

My husband has a 9 month old with an ex-girlfriend. They currently have no court ordered child support (although he pays her 4 times what he should be for child support on his own) or custody and no custody agreement. He would like to have a written agreement to joint custody, but when he told her he would take her to court about it if he had to she threatened to press statutory rape charges against him. He had just turned 21 when the child was conceived and she was almost 18. He is currently 22 and she is 19. Can this hold up in court and what kind of rights does he have?

Also, I don't know if this matters. He joined the military right after the child was conceived. I know that sometimes the military has their own set of laws....

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Quoting smh0329

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My question involves a child custody case from the State of: California

My husband has a 9 month old with an ex-girlfriend. They currently have no court ordered child support (although he pays her 4 times what he should be for child support on his own) or custody and no custody agreement. He would like to have a written agreement to joint custody, but when he told her he would take her to court about it if he had to she threatened to press statutory rape charges against him. He had just turned 21 when the child was conceived and she was almost 18. He is currently 22 and she is 19. Can this hold up in court and what kind of rights does he have?

Also, I don't know if this matters. He joined the military right after the child was conceived. I know that sometimes the military has their own set of laws....

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Your husband NEEDS to file in court for custody, CS, and visitation, ASAP. Any agreement they make out of court cannot be enforced at all.

This is what he's trying to do, but he's worried that she'll retailiate with statutory rape charges. As much as he wants to see/hold/be with his daughter he won't do her much good in jail.

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Quoting smh0329

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This is what he's trying to do, but he's worried that she'll retailiate with statutory rape charges. As much as he wants to see/hold/be with his daughter he won't do her much good in jail.

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He should get a consult with a criminal law attorney. In the mean time, he should not let the threat of statutory rape deter him from filing for his legal rights as a father. Not only does his child deserve to know her father, the threat of statutory rape didn't deter him from making a baby.

Let's just make one thing really clear....

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261.5. (a) Unlawful sexual intercourse is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator, if the person is a minor. For the purposes of this section, a "minor" is a person under the age of 18 years and an "adult" is a person who is at least 18 years of age.
(b) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is not more than three years older or three years younger than the perpetrator, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than
the perpetrator is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and
shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
(d) Any person over the age of 21 years who engages in an act of
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years of age
is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
adult who engages in an act of sexual intercourse with a minor in
violation of this section may be liable for civil penalties in the
following amounts:
(A) An adult who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse
with a minor less than two years younger than the adult is liable for
a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000).
(B) An adult who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse
with a minor at least two years younger than the adult is liable for
a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(C) An adult who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse
with a minor at least three years younger than the adult is liable
for a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(D) An adult over the age of 21 years who engages in an act of
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 years of age is
liable for a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000).
(2) The district attorney may bring actions to recover civil
penalties pursuant to this subdivision. From the amounts collected
for each case, an amount equal to the costs of pursuing the action
shall be deposited with the treasurer of the county in which the
judgment was entered, and the remainder shall be deposited in the
Underage Pregnancy Prevention Fund, which is hereby created in the
State Treasury. Amounts deposited in the Underage Pregnancy
Prevention Fund may be used only for the purpose of preventing
underage pregnancy upon appropriation by the Legislature.

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So yeah, he is on the hook for statutory rape.

Aren't there statue of limitations on those charges though. I mean she can't hold that over his head forever can she?

Please read I hope this helps
Teen Life Q&A: The Limits of Statutory Rape
What is the statute of limitations on statutory rape?
by Mike Hardcastle for About.com

What is the statute of limitations on statutory rape? The statute of limitations on statutory rape varies from state to state and depends on whether the crime is prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor is considered less serious than a felony and in most states it carries a shorter statute of limitations. Whether an incident of statutory rape is prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony often depends on the age difference between the two parties.
For example, in California the statute of limitations on misdemeanor statutory rape is one year and is charged when the two people involved are less than three years apart in age at the time of the crime, if the two people are more than three years apart at the time of the crime the charge become a felony and the statute of limitations increases to three years.
To find out more about the differences between misdemeanor and felony statutory rape, including the statutes of limitations on each, contact your state Attorney Generals Office.

The California criminal statute of limitations is discussed here.