SHE IS IN VERY DEEP TROUBLE

[Guest]

I have a friend that just moved to...in march,

well she's been abused, and her dad is constantly beating her, she tried to file a report once (she didn't live in the US) and she almost got killed, well she wants to get away from it but she doesnt want nothing to happen to her parents, she has a step-brother but they dont harm him in any way. So, what can she do? Can i take her to live in my house without getting in any trouble? if she is to go back to her house once she has runaway is there anyway that we can stop the police from taking her back to her house?

[ccsmod8]

Re: SHE IS IN VERY DEEP TROUBLE

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us at the National Runaway Switchboard and we hope that we can be of service to you in this time of need. We are glad that you wrote to us and it shows that you truly care a great deal for your friend and her safety. It is not fair what is happening to her and it is certainly not legal what her father has done to her. As mandated reporters, we are here to help file a child abuse report if she was willing to give us a call at 1800runaway. We are a confidential crisis line and no one is going to know that she called us but if she was to offer us names, number and address of her parents, we are required by law to file report without her permission. However, if she simply wanted to talk about what is happening and refrain from giving any demographic information, we are here to help guide her in whatever direction she wanted the call to go.

The fact that she did not file when she was not living here is probably because she felt that nothing was going to come of the situation. The pros and cons to filing in this country is that once an investigation takes place in the home the child needs to stick around for Child Protective Services to source it out and while it is unsafe for her to remain in that environment, it is the best shot to getting an investigation rolling. It doesn't mean that she is going to be taken to a safe place. It has been known to happen but if the investigation was found to have abuse then it is likely that she could get taken out of the home. However, some investigation only lead to family counseling and therapist and the victim in the situation risks being more victimized. It is not unusual in situations like these that the child wants to protect her parents for fear of getting the family seperated. The flipside to filing or not is still risking being abuse more but only she is capable to knowing for sure how much more of the abuse she can take.

The thing to remember is that running away is not a crime but if the legal guardians filed a runaway report then she gets to be listed as a runaway in the police database until she returns voluntarily or brought back by the police. So if you were to take her to live with you, it is likely that you could be charge with harboring a runaway. A person becomes a runaway if they leave from their parent's house on an overnight without permission. Therefore, if she has a status as a runaway and you were found to have withheld important information from the police of her whereabouts, you are risking going to jail. You have the right intention to help and it is to be commended since her parents treats her this way but there is nothing you can do if she was found by the police and taken back to her parent's house. The mother and father is responsible for her because she is a minor so you have to be careful about risking yourself or your family getting in trouble if she stays with you. You are welcome to have her call our number or contact us yourself for resources to help answer some of your questions. We are here for you and your friend when you need us and look forward to hearing you both of you. Good luck.

-NRS

[Guest]

Re: SHE IS IN VERY DEEP TROUBLE

grrrrhhh, well you see her dad is involved politically would that affect if we were to file a report??

uhmm, how can i know if there is a shelter here in town??? and how much trouble could i get for lettin her stay at my house without my family knowing and me being underage?
i told her to call but i dont know if she did,

well thank you for your help i hope we can figure out something fast

[ccsmod4]

Re: SHE IS IN VERY DEEP TROUBLE

Hi,
thanks for posting again.
We responded to your first question to the best of our knowledge in our previous post reply. The precedures remain the same. We could search our data base for shelters in your area and invite you to call our 1-800-runaway 24hr hotline if you would like a referral. In answer to your question about how much trouble you could get in to by letting her stay with you without your parents knowledge would be up to the discretion
of your parents and the police department. Once again we hope things work out for
your friend and appreciate your efforts in wanting to help her.

nrs