laws on 17 yr old running away.

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musicouzts

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What will south Carolina do if a 17 yr old runaway? I heard the police wont do anything since 17 is considered an adult in the "criminal justice system.
 
You heard wrong you are not an adult until 18 not one minute before! In addition nine states consider "running away" a status crime. Yes Police can go get you and yes they can drag your butt back home. Once you take this action it opens the door for your parents to take actions as well like Boot Camp and other options you wont care too much for
 
And if the police won't do it, there's nothing stopping your parents from doing it themselves.
 
Police might not actively search for you without some sort of suspicious circumstance, but once you turn up somewhere they will take you home. Anyone that takes you in as a runaway could potentially be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
 
The first responses are legally correct.

But the practical reality is that all too often as long as the 17 year old is safe, the police won't force the teen to return home.

Of course that doesn't prevent ANYONE AND EVERYONE who is harboring the teen from being charged with various offenses...
 
Your link doesn't work.

And I'd also like to point out that the parents still have the right to force the minor back home EVEN IF the police do not.
 
Oh absodanglutely!

But sometimes the threat of boyfriend/girlfriend dearest getting into legal trouble - as in FELONY time - can be even more dissuasive :)
 
I researched this and running away is a status crime in your state. This makes Police dragging you home even more likely along with criminal punishment
 
Proserpina said:
But the practical reality is that all too often as long as the 17 year old is safe, the police won't force the teen to return home.
Click to expand...

Whether 17 or 7 a missing juvenile will be returned home to parents every time. Police can't do much about the juvenile running away again though.
A habitual runaway may be turned over to social services or county probation.

A police officer who does not return a juvenile reported missing to the parents accepts a mess of liability if something should happen to that juvenile afterward. I have never heard of a located juvenile not being returned to parental custody.
 
mightymoose said:
Whether 17 or 7 a missing juvenile will be returned home to parents every time.
Click to expand...


Who said the child was missing?

I was - in case you missed it - referring to a runaway who is staying safe and well with someone other than their legal guardian/s. That's a completely different kettle of fish than a "missing child".

And seriously - there's a WORLD of difference between a 7 year old who has gone missing, and a 17 year old who has run away from home.
 
EXACT QUOTE FROM THIS ARTICAL carolinalive . / m /news /st ory ?id=193 549#.U QqlGC ZGJ5T i had to take out and put some spaces ht t p : / / w w w. and .com
" In south carolina, 17 year olds are considered adults in the criminal justice system" "for the police department what that means is we cant go and drag them back home again. They have a right to come and go as they please, so they are technically not a runaway. "The police departments gets many parents calling saying their 17 year old child is missing. All we tell them is their is nothing we can do"

That exacts quotes from that artical that south carolina interviewed a police station asking what to do on 17 year old runaways. The police department said their is nothing they can do. SO that being said. Someone can runaway at 17 and get away with it. Just be sure to check with the local police station and see how they feel about 17 year olds running away.
 
h t t p : / /w w w. carolinalive. c o m / m/news/story?id=193549#.UQqlGCZGJ5T take out all spaces between http www and come and the dash and m
 
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