Help! I am not a prosecutor and my knowledge of juvenile law mainly is in the area of what to do with the kid after taking him or her into custody. I had a call asking about possible prosecution of a 20+ man who committed indecency with a child when he was 13 and victim was 10. I presume that under PC 8.07, a child under 15 can't be prosecuted or convicted for indecency with a child. I did some research and I know a child that age can be ajudicated for engaging in delinquent conduct by committing indecency with a child and be put on some type of supervised probation. But what happens when that child is now an adult? What, if anything, can be done with this individual? Apparently he never repeated his behavior.

I will greatly appreciate responses from the juvenile law prosecutors who use this forum.

J Ansolabehere

Look at 54.02(j). I think you are out of luck. I think the guy needed to have been 15 at the time of the offense to now prosecute him for indecency.

David is right. The juvenile court lost jurisdiction when he turned 18 to do anything except certify him under 54.02(j, but to do that he would have had to be of age to be certified at the time he committed the offense.

Thanks to you both for answering my novice's question. I read Family Code 54.02(j) and it did seem to cut off any hope of prosecuting the individual. A consoling thought it the individual apparently discovered at the time that this was not "acceptable" behavior in his family and never tried it again, that we know of at least.

Thanks again for the help!

J Ansolabehere