Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lately there have been many stories about Criminals being caught by using familial DNA, where they had no previous samples of the actual criminal. My thoughts are that this is great. Then I started to wonder what if:
Some poor sap, 40-50 years ago has a one night stand and his partner get pregnant. The she concocts a story about being raped, but never gives accurate information about the man. Then the progeny uses the new method to track down the “rapist”?
Lately there have been many stories about Criminals being caught by using familial DNA, where they had no previous samples of the actual criminal. My thoughts are that this is great.
They must have a sample of the criminal's DNA in order to find familial DNA of the criminal.
Quote:
Then I started to wonder what if:
Some poor sap, 40-50 years ago has a one night stand and his partner get pregnant. The she concocts a story about being raped, but never gives accurate information about the man. Then the progeny uses the new method to track down the “rapist”?
What then?
From a legal point of view? Nothing happens. There's no proof of a rape. On a personal level? Probably the same thing would happen that always happens when there's a false accusation of rape. These things happen with or without DNA testing.
Lately there have been many stories about Criminals being caught by using familial DNA, where they had no previous samples of the actual criminal. My thoughts are that this is great. Then I started to wonder what if:
Some poor sap, 40-50 years ago has a one night stand and his partner get pregnant. The she concocts a story about being raped, but never gives accurate information about the man. Then the progeny uses the new method to track down the “rapist”?
What then?
The child (progeny) might find her father's relatives, or even the father himself after doing a DNA test. But I don't think the child could bring a rape case that was perpetrated on her mother.
Lately there have been many stories about Criminals being caught by using familial DNA, where they had no previous samples of the actual criminal. My thoughts are that this is great. Then I started to wonder what if:
Some poor sap, 40-50 years ago has a one night stand and his partner get pregnant. The she concocts a story about being raped, but never gives accurate information about the man. Then the progeny uses the new method to track down the “rapist”?
What then?
So, a woman 40-50 years ago filed a false police report alleging rape with inaccurate (vague?) information about the supposed perp.
How does the existence of the child prove the child was conceived during a rape?
Why would the mother want to pursue false charges 40-50 years later? What does she gain from it?
Take it a step further. Could a state use DNA to identify unknown fathers in welfare cases and seek reimbursement for benefits or establish a child support order. That would not necessarily be a criminal case and the father may not have any knowledge of the paternity. If the mother received welfare benefits for the child, and if the government became zealous enough they could do some DNA snooping to recover payments.
Take it a step further. Could a state use DNA to identify unknown fathers in welfare cases and seek reimbursement for benefits or establish a child support order. That would not necessarily be a criminal case and the father may not have any knowledge of the paternity. If the mother received welfare benefits for the child, and if the government became zealous enough they could do some DNA snooping to recover payments.
Welfare already does do DNA testing on potential fathers
So, a woman 40-50 years ago filed a false police report alleging rape with inaccurate (vague?) information about the supposed perp.
How does the existence of the child prove the child was conceived during a rape?
Why would the mother want to pursue false charges 40-50 years later? What does she gain from it?
In a lot of states, she wouldn't even be able to file a police report on a rape after that much time has passed. It exceeds most (if not all) statutes of limitation (although some states don't have a statute of limitation on rape).
Take it a step further. Could a state use DNA to identify unknown fathers in welfare cases and seek reimbursement for benefits or establish a child support order. That would not necessarily be a criminal case and the father may not have any knowledge of the paternity. If the mother received welfare benefits for the child, and if the government became zealous enough they could do some DNA snooping to recover payments.
They likely wouldn't be able to do that without the father taking a DNA test to confirm their findings. Remember, even in criminal cases, they only use familial DNA to narrow down their suspects - once they think they have identified the right suspect, they can't convict on that alone, they still need to run the suspect's DNA to confirm. I'm no lawyer, but I imagine they can't force a suspected father to take a DNA test so the whole endeavor would likely be moot. I think in criminal cases, they can get a court order for a DNA test on a suspect even if the suspect refuses to consent to one, but for a simple child support case, I think it's highly unlikely a judge would ever grant a court order to force a DNA test like that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
