Can Minor Get Emancipated if a Loving, Supportive Family is Willing to Take Her in

[lovingparentsof3]

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: North Carolina.

We are very close with a 16 year old girl who is basically being held like a prisoner by her parents. They aren't physically abusing her but mentally and emotionally abusing her. They have taken all of her stuff out of her room and just left a bed in her room and painted it all white. They put in new windows and locked them so she can't get out. When she asked what happens if there is a fire they just told her they won't have a fire so don't worry. They took here out of her high school and forced her to be home schooled. She can have no contact with her friends. They are extremely religious fanatics and just want her to have friends with church kids which she doesn't care for. She hates the church. They do let her have a job a few days a week but check all her stuff when she gets home and at least once a week go through her room and clothes. They take her check and tip money and supposedly deposit it in a joint account but she has no access to it and has no idea that it even exists. They have told her that at 18 they aren't going to give her the money if she decides to leave. She has been told she can not use the phone, answer the door, or get the mail. When they are home if she wants to go somewhere or for a walk around the neighborhood she can only go if one of them goes with her. This all started because surprise, surprise she had had sex and they went all religious on her and had her go through a complete sexual physical and now make her go see a sexual counselor like she is some evil, degenerate girl. By the way, her mom had her when she was just 17 and now is I guess making the girl pay for the sins the mom feels she committed. She has run away before and we took her to a place for runaways. The parents left her in there for a week including her birthday before bothering to pick her up. We want to take her in but know the parents will not accept her living with us. If they pursue through courts and police is there anyway she can get out of there before turning 18? If we take her in and police come can we get arrested for hiding her in our house. Thanks.

[aaron]

Emancipation is not about having somebody else support you. It's about self-support.

If a child is being abused or put in danger, call CPS or 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).

[lovingparentsof3]

So basically no matter how lousy and restrictive parents are unless it can be supported legally as being abusive the child has no rights to leave, correct? If she comes and lives with us and her parents report her as a runaway the courts/police will make her go back and live with them? She hates her parents and frankly they seem to hate her or at least who she is and wants to be and not the perfect, church kid they expect her to be. They scream at her and put her down all the time if she asks about doing anything a normal teenager desires and tell her they aren't restricting her as long as she only wants to do church things and do things with the church kids. What will happen if she keeps running away to our house? Can they force her into a juvenile facility instead of letting her live with us? Thanks.

[aardvarc]

So basically no matter how lousy and restrictive parents are unless it can be supported legally as being abusive the child has no rights to leave, correct?

That's correct. And anyone assisting a minor child in defiance of their parent's lawful authority can face criminal charges for doing things like allowing the minor to live with them without consent of the parent(s). So long as the minor is a minor, parents have 100% of the authority over that minor - authority that ends when the minor turns 18, or the minor is emancipated by a judge, or is removed from the care of parents by the state (ie put in foster care), or some other adult is made legally responsible, such as a court appointed guardian.

If she comes and lives with us and her parents report her as a runaway the courts/police will make her go back and live with them?

Yes, because only a JUDGE can determine otherwise - and that determination needs to happen BEFORE you and the teen attempt to defy lawful parental authority. This child has one or more parents, and THEY have all rights regarding their child. If you want that to change, it's going to involve the legal system and a judge - children are not "finders keepers".

She hates her parents and frankly they seem to hate her or at least who she is and wants to be and not the perfect, church kid they expect her to be. They scream at her and put her down all the time if she asks about doing anything a normal teenager desires and tell her they aren't restricting her as long as she only wants to do church things and do things with the church kids.

None of which changes the legal reality of the situation. Most children have to survive their parents. That's life. When she's 18, she can do what she wants.

What will happen if she keeps running away to our house?

She'll end up having to find somewhere else to run to should you be incarcerated. Or she can stop running when she ends up in a juvenile detention facility or group home for problem teens.

Can they force her into a juvenile facility instead of letting her live with us? Thanks.

Her parents can pretty much keep her in the house until she turns 18, and if lawe enforcement and/or social services gets involved because of runaway or other issues, yes, she can end up in a facility.

[LawResearcherMissy]

So basically no matter how lousy and restrictive parents are unless it can be supported legally as being abusive the child has no rights to leave, correct?

Yep. Kids are under the care and control of their parents until they are 18 years old. Full stop. Parents have the right to raise their children as THEY see fit, without the interference of third parties. Full stop. There are REASONS for this. You may think you're trying to rescue the child from a harmful situation, but so do a lot of people who get all up in other people's parenting business without considering that they DON'T have all the information and they DON'T have standing to interfere.

It's crappy to be a religious nut, but it's not illegal, and if she's 17, she can put up with it until her 18th birthday, then leave and never look back. She's not being abused, even if you think restricting her "normal teenager desires" is abusive, her parents have not been declared unfit by the courts, so you need to step off before you find yourself having to explain to a judge just exactly why you think you have a right to interfere with her parents' authority over her. You're on very thin ice, and I'm actually kind of surprised you haven't already been slapped with a restraining order.

[Dogmatique]

I'm curious as to how OP knows all of this.

This sounds like the usual uppity teen who is rebelling against the wishes of her parents, quite frankly. And OP seriously needs to consider the charges THEY may be facing for harboring a runaway.

This isn't a joke, this isn't a game - this is deadly serious.

[LawResearcherMissy]

This sounds like the usual uppity teen who is rebelling against the wishes of her parents, quite frankly. And OP seriously needs to consider the charges THEY may be facing for harboring a runaway.

I would have already had the OP in court, personally.

I don't know where people get the idea that they can just take someone else's child because they think the parents are "too restrictive".

Of course, it's also more than a little possible that the OP is actually the 17 year-old in question. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Dogmatique]

True, dat!

[Disagreeable]

So far it appears you are the only person committing criminal acts.