Being paid not to press charges

Question

A situation occurred where a girl punched a male student after this student bothered her. The school official called all parents in with the male student and parents played the victim, and the principle agreed. The girl was to bear the full guilt and be the bad person in all of this according to the school official.

The mom of the girl pointed out that the girl was a minor and the boy was 18. He was snapping her bra strap and doing other things that are minorly sexual offenses. The girl asked him to stop and told the teacher on several occasions. No action was taken. The girl, according to her mom, had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

After threatening to inform the law enforcement and the news the "victims" suddenly became very apologetic. Depending how far the boy actually went (I did not have all the details) he could end up on a sex offender list.

The school official agreed and ordered the boy to stay away from the girl, and the issue was "solved".

However, could the mom have taken it further? Assuming the actions of the boy were prosecutable, could the mom have asked for money to avoid going to the police without running afoul of the law?

Obviously settlements as of such happen all the time in civil cases, but can it extend to criminal?

Answer 1

new-south-wales

Unwarranted demands with menaces is blackmail

A demand is unwarranted if the person does not believe they have a lawful entitlement to the thing demanded, the mother in the story does not have a legal right to money.

Menaces are the threat of something unpleasant- facing potential criminal investigation qualifies.

Is what the boy did a sexual offence?

Solely on the information presented it’s impossible to say. The offences of sexual touching or sexual act might apply, but they also might not. The criteria is “… in circumstances where a reasonable person would consider the [touching/act] to be sexual.”

Snapping a bra strap might be sexual, or it might not; to some extent it depends on whether the boy intended to sexually gratify himself or to just be a jerk.

Notwithstanding, this would still be an assault at school, which has all the elements of common assault but carries a greater penalty of up to 5 years prison.

Mandatory Reporting

Teachers, among others, must report child abuse and neglect. This isn’t that because the girl does not appear to be at ongoing risk.

Concealing Child Abuse Offence

It is a crime for any adult who believes that a child abuse offence has been committed by another adult to fail to report it. It is also a crime to accept money or anything else not to do so.

If there is a genuine belief that the crimes is sexual in nature, there is no avoiding the obligation. However, for assaults at schools that cause only minor injuries, the reporting obligation is satisfied if it is reported through the schools reporting mechanism which they are required by law to have.

Answer 2

A victim, generally, does not get to decide whether or not charges will be filed, that is up to the prosecutor. So even if this was some sort of legal transaction they would be selling a service they are unable to really provide.

A settlement in civil court however will typically be about monetary damages. One could certainly justify emotional distress from a sexual assault but that still would be a civil case not criminal. Requesting a payment to avoid criminal charges would almost certainly be extortion/blackmail.

Answer 3

Lawyers in the U.S. are expressly prohibited from reaching a settlement that involves not pressing charges under the rules of professional ethics that apply to them.

The analysis by Jesse_b that the victim does not decide whether or not charges will be filed because that is up to the prosecutor is correct. Sometimes charges are pressed over the objection of the victim of a crime.

This doesn't mean, however, that prosecutors ignore the wishes of victims (and the most common case where victims plead for leniency is in the context of domestic violence and child abuse where the victims are also economically dependent upon the perpetrator). And, the victim has not duty to report the crime to law enforcement.

While requesting a payment to avoid criminal charges would sometimes be extortion/blackmail, however, I would question whether this is "almost certainly" the case.