17 Year Old Girlfriend Wants to Run Away
My 17 year old girlfriend currently resides in Connecticut. I live in Virginia and am 19 years old. Her mom and her mom's fianceé are abusive, and her other relatives are abusive/bad influences. Her mom smokes pot almost daily, and will often go out drinking and come home drunk at night. She leaves my girlfriend in the care of her 6 year old brother almost all the time as well, always going off to do whatever it is she does. She also sometimes smokes pot with other relatives in and around my girlfriend. One of her uncles is a gang member and often has my girlfriend get involved with gang fights because she knows how to fight. My girlfriend is afraid to say no because it could mean her life. Her grandfather is terribly abusive too, her mom will often call him and have him punish her for anything that she's done. Her fianceé yanked out my girlfriend's lip ring the other night too. She doesn't want to be in this situation any more and I don't want her to be in this situation any more. She wants to runaway from her home, but doesn't have a plan or a place to go in her state. I don't want her out in the streets to be raped or killed or both or anything else bad happening to her. I have friends who are willing to drive there to pick her up and bring her here to Virginia, but my girlfriend wont agree to that unless nothing bad will happen to any of us. I've been looking up Connecticut and Virginia laws on all of this for the past few hours but am unable to find all the answers I need. She does not want to deal with foster care or any social services in CT. I would really like to bring her here and get her out of that bad situation. She is losing hope.
Re: 17 Year Old Girlfriend
Quote:
She does not want to deal with foster care or any social services in CT.
What she wants to deal with is irrelevant.
If she is being abused, her option is to report it to CPS. It's her ONLY option.
No, she can't run away to come live with you, and you have no standing to bring her to where you are. Should she run to you and you take her in, you can be charged with harboring a runaway, which carries penalties of $2500 in fines and up to a year in jail.
And then there's the contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge that will surely be leveled against you.
Tell her to call CPS and report the abuse, and to speak to a counselor at school.