A man an a woman want to get married, the woman is carrying a child. The problem is is that the man is a sex offender. Can they legally marry and raise the child together without court problems that could cause the lose of the child?
Yes, but there are a couple of details. I'm going to call the man "SO" for convenience here.
First, if the SO is still on probation he needs to disclose the identity of his new partner to his probation officer, who then has the duty to disclose the SO's sex crime to the new partner. If SO fails to do this it's a violation of his probation and he can be arrested for it.
Second, the SO will need his probation officer's written permission to be in the presence of the newborn. Verbal permission is not enough. Usually a probation officer will grant that permission due to the nature of the underlying sex offense, but they're under no obligation to do so. It really helps if SO is otherwise doing everything he needs to do in his probation.
Third, the biological father of the newborn may sue for custody and win based on the mother's relationship with the SO. In my opinion that fact by itself really shouldn't be sufficient to have mother lose legal custody, but taken with other facts unknown to me at this time, it may be. Suffice to say that Mother needs to keep her nose clean (no crimes, no drugs, co-parent nicely with bio dad, communciate clearly, disclose to him what's going on, comply with his requests for information, especially information about SO).
Fourth, alternatively or additionally to the paragraph above, the Department of Human Services may become involved with the family and remove the newborn based on concerns that the SO may or may not be a risk of harm to the newborn. That may end up with the SO having to prove that he is not a threat to the newborn. Meanwhile, DHS is supposed to avoid removal if possible, place with family if possible, etc., but whether they actually do their jobs is hit or miss.
All of the above concerns are greatly alleviated if SO is participating in the recommended sex offender therapy and treatment. This should include a psycho-sexual evaluation, and if it hasn't so far, SO should have one conducted anyway. If SO gets the psycho-sexual evaluation conducted privately he can review it before deciding to disclose the results to DHS, bio dad, and so on. If the psycho-sexual evaluation shows he's not a threat to the newborn, then that should help with any custody and/or DHS related cases, and he should share that evaluation with anyone and everyone.
All this said, given the turn-around time on psycho-sexual evaluations and the timeline you've mentioned in your follow up comments, I would suggest he get that evaluation done ASAP if he hasn't already. Also I advise that you and SO speak to a good lawyer who knows family law, juvenile dependency, and criminal law.
Mary Katherine BrownFamily Law AttorneyBrooklyn, NY ·
Yes, most likely the couple you've described above can live a normal, happy life together as parents; however, I recommend (for many reasons, not just the sex-offender issue) that they at least consult with a local attorney to review all their rights, options and obligations before they marry so they will be prepared and informed for the future. You can find attorneys in your area by searching among the profiles here on . Good luck!
It is really up to the courts. The courts may order that the man have no contact with this women while she is under age. Once she is 18 she is an adult and she and the man can see each other but the court may or may not want to restrict the man from being around the child. I am guessing that the man fathered the 15 years old's child so the child would be his child. It really depends on whether the court views him as a dangerous sex offender or not and what terms the court makes for him to comply with. I would think he would have a constitutional right to see his own child provided that he does not pose a threat to his child, but again, if he is under an restrictions limiting his access to children, he may need court permission before he can be around his child.
If mom goes ahead and marries him anyway and bring the child around him despite restrictions to the contrary, and the authorities think he poses a threat to the minor child, the might take the child away from the mother for negligent endangerment.
It's difficult to say without more information than can be provided here. It' s unclear whether he's on post-prison supervision or whether he's in the midst of his case. He may have limitations on his interaction with children (sounds like the baby isn't his). Additionally, a mother can run into problems with DHS for exposing children to a person with a sex offender history. It's not impossible to deal this but the parties are going to want to hire a lawyer to navigate the DHS situation and make sure all parties are protected. Good luck!
It depends on their current ages. if they can legally marry in Oregon. If you aren't 17 years of age, you can't get married in Oregon. Those 17 years of age will need parental consent. If one party is still under 18 years old then they older party may be committing a crime by being in a physical relationship with the younger party when there is a three year age difference.
18 - Consent for all laws. (ORS 163.345 - ORS 163-425)
Under 18 - Defined as Sexual Abuse 3 (Class A Misdemeanor)
Under 16 - Defined as Rape 3 / Sodomy 3 (Class C Felony)
