{"id":1144,"date":"2018-12-21T20:22:58","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T20:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2018-12-21T20:22:58","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T20:22:58","slug":"is-my-child-charged-with-a-delinquent-offense-or-status-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/is-my-child-charged-with-a-delinquent-offense-or-status-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Is My Child Charged With a Delinquent Offense or Status Offense?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a child under the age of 18 years old is arrested or\nbreaks the law, they are entered into the juvenile court system. There, they\nwill face a series of legal procedures, obligations, penalties, and ultimately,\na conviction. Their conviction, however, largely depends on whether they are charged\nwith a delinquent offense or a status offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your child was recently arrested, it is important to\nlearn the difference between the two types of offenses. Not only can this help\nyou better understand what to expect from the juvenile court proceedings, it\ncan also help you protect your child from future brushes with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn the difference between a delinquent\noffense and a status offense.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Juvenile
Juvenile Crime Lawyer 317-636-7514<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Status Offenses<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Status offenses are special because they can only be committed by people of a certain status<\/em>. This does not mean wealth or intellect; instead, it refers to age. A status offense is only illegal for those who are underage, also known as minors<\/em>. A minor is someone that is not old enough to partake in a certain behavior or action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a person under 16 years of age cannot operate a\nvehicle, a person under the age of 18 cannot smoke or purchase cigarettes, and a\nperson under the age of 21 cannot consume nor purchase alcohol. All three of\nthese individuals are considered \u201cminors\u201d, which means they would commit a\nstatus offense if they are caught partaking in any of the actions just\nmentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Examples of Status Offenses:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2724 Truancy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2724 Curfew Violations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2724 Running Away From Home<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Delinquent Offenses<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Delinquent offense are different from status offenses, primarily\nbecause they are crimes that can be committed by individuals of any age.\nBasically, both minors and adults can commit delinquent offenses. Examples of\nsuch crimes include shoplifting, operating a vehicle without a license, drunk\ndriving, fraud, assault, vandalism, and any other action that is against state\nand federal laws. Minors who commit delinquent offenses are more likely to face\nharsher penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most often, less serious cases will result in an informal plan of probation; but more serious offenses can lead to a minor having to go before a judge and being sentenced to a juvenile detention center. If a minor is near 18 years old and commits an egregious crime, such as murder, they may be prosecuted as an adult. Check out our recent blog, \u201cHow Does the Juvenile Court System Work?<\/a>\u201d to learn more about juvenile court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who to Talk to About Your Child\u2019s Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"David
David E. Lewis Attorney at Law 317-636-7514<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Call David E. Lewis, Attorney at Law, at 317-636-7514<\/strong> for aggressive and experienced criminal defense in Indianapolis, Indiana<\/a>. Our law firm offers free initial consultations to discuss the best strategies for defense against your child\u2019s criminal charges. Call 317-636-7514 to schedule your consultation with a trusted Indianapolis criminal lawyer, today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a child under the age of 18 years old is arrested or breaks the law, they are entered into the juvenile court system. There, they will face a series of legal procedures, obligations, penalties, and ultimately, a conviction. Their … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[620,110,610,618,337,500],"class_list":["post-1144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-law","tag-deliquent-offenses","tag-juvenile-court","tag-juvenile-court-system-indiana","tag-juvenile-crime-lawyer-indianapolis","tag-juvenile-criminal-lawyer-indianapolis","tag-status-offenses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}