Parents Not Liable if Teens Have Sex, Court Holds

Parents are not responsible for civil damages when their children agree to have sex, a state appeal court here has ruled.

Rejecting civil liability for the parents of a teen-age boy who impregnated his girlfriend, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled recently that consensual intercourse between the boy and the girl--who was 16 when she gave birth--was not “willful misconduct” that could lead to damages.

The case marked the first California ruling on the civil duty of parents for what could have led to criminal prosecution of the boy on statutory rape charges. There was not, however, a “hint of prosecution” because the teen-agers had a “dating relationship” that later led to marriage and were having sex voluntarily, the court said in a March 22 opinion.

Noting that times and values had changed, a three-judge panel of the court ruled unanimously that it was “not inclined to dwell on outdated legal fictions concerning the ability of underage females to consent to sex.”

The court also declined to equate willing intercourse with acts of “juvenile delinquency, vandalism and malicious mischief,” for which parents can be held liable under state law. There is a distinction, the panel said, between someone hurt through no fault of their own and an injured person who voluntarily takes part in an offense that later generates a complaint.

Mark R. Moore, the La Mesa attorney for the young mother, Cynthia Matthews, now 21, said Tuesday he is urging her to appeal the case to the California Supreme Court. It is uncertain whether an appeal will be pursued, he said.

“I believe each family should share at least equally in a situation like this,” Moore said. “I think each set of parents needs to bear responsibility when there is an expense relating to a child.”

Robert F. Wesley, the San Diego lawyer for the father, Rodney Evans, now a 22-year-old mechanic, said the court was right not to substitute civil liability for a potential criminal charge.

“Both these kids were equally culpable,” Wesley said. “To try to hang (liability) on a criminal statute was equally offensive.”

Matthews and Evans began dating in 1985, according to the 4th District court. Later, they married but now are separated, Wesley said. Neither they nor the two sets of parents could be reached Tuesday for comment.

On March, 22, 1986, Matthews gave birth to a boy. The father was Evans, the court said.

Because of complications, the child had to remain in the hospital after his mother was discharged. Family insurance did not cover the baby’s hospital bill once Matthews was discharged, and her mother and stepfather, Carolyn and Jeffrey Barone, incurred a $10,000 medical bill.

On June 1, 1987, Matthews, through her mother and stepfather, sued Rodney, through his mother and stepfather, Joanne and Lee Cohen, seeking repayment for the $10,000 hospital bill.