Can the parents of a friend get me in legal trouble for emailing their son if he wants to talk to me too?

I am friends with this guy whose parents say that we should not be friends. We are still technically minors, he is Muslim, and his family tells me that his religion prevents him from dating until he is 21. The only thing is, I don't want to date him. We are really close and awesome friends, but we have to hide our friendship by only talking in email form. They have found out several times that we have been talking (first on the phone, then via text) but they don't know about the emailing. Sometimes there will be emails a week or two apart and I get nervous that if I email him, his parents will find out about it and get me in legal trouble. He is totally worth fighting for if it is just with his family, but I don't want any trouble with the law- I have my whole future ahead of me. There have been 3 different times where his mom and sister seriously told me not to contact him or else they would call the police on me. Can they seriously get me in trouble if he contacts me too?
Can the parents of a friend get me in legal trouble for emailing their son if he wants to talk to me too?
Remember I am not practicing law here. That is strickly for the lawyers to do. I have to put that first because I don't want to be in trouble with the law. I know I do have the correct answers to your problems.........


If he contacts you, then the parents can only do something to correct his behavior. As you did not iniate the contact with their son, after being told by the parents not to contact the son.


As for you contacting their son over the phone, well you have been told point blank not to do so, and I do believe you have been told that on more than one occassion.


YES, if you continue to use the phone as a method to contact their son in their household, they INDEED CAN PRESS PHONE HARASSMENT CHARGES AGAINST YOU. Any law official would tell you to cease and desist, meaning STOP AND DON'T CALL THEIR SON.


It is against the law to do so.


As for you emailing back and forth, well that's walking on very thin ice. Especially if the phone line supplies the internet connection for him in his parents house. It can be argued that you are still contacting or attempting to contact their son using the phone as a method to do so.........


If they have cable then they need to tell you not to use the computer to try and contact their son, no matter what your intentions might be.........ex: like just being a friend and trading emails.


You did not say how old each one of you are, so it is a little harder to give you good acurate advise.


I believe at this point you would be safer having another friend contact their son, and then set it up so the two of you can meet somewhere in person. Or at least have the use of a friend's computer, so it isn't traced back to yours. And by all means be very careful about what you say, and do not even dare to sign or close your email to him, in any personal type manner.


If his parents are serious about what they told you not to do, with regards to their son.........then do yourself the biggest favor you could ever do and either find a much safer way to contact or talk to their son. Or, just face the fact that until you both are of legal age.........his parents can have you arrested if you do not listen to what they have ask of you.





Hope this helps
Reply:Given what you've posted, and assuming you're an American, there is no way you can legally get in trouble for e-mailing him. Even as a minor you have First Amendment rights which allow you to communicate with other people. There are really only two cases where you could get into legal trouble for contacting him:





1. If the parents get a judicial restraining order against you.


2. He tells you not to contact him, in which case it becomes harrassment.





I can certainly understand how paranoid parents can be. Being that his family is from a different cultural background than yours only exagerates this as they automatically assume the worst. If your talking, they assume your dating. If your dating, they assume your having a sexual relationship. If there is no way for them to accept your friendship you and you wish to continue e-mailing I offer this advice. Continue to be discreet. Remember that his parents either do or may begin to monitor his e-mail. With this in mind, get a new email address which doesn't tie back to you or the fact your female. In other words, don't get yourname@yahoo.com or fluffypinkbunny@yahoo.com. Get something either neutral, masculane, or make up a name like BillWatkins@yahoo.com. When you write him don't sign your name unless you agree on a nickname (see above). Finally, be careful of the subject matter so you don't give yourself away. Don't flirt or bring up feminine subjects as it may tip his parents off that it's you.





Only you can decide if this is worth the trouble. I hope he's worth it. Good luck.
Reply:Have you also considered that because you do care about his friendship, you shouldn't want to do anything that would surely get him in trouble when his family would find out. ...bettyk
Reply:If HE contacts YOU, then no, you can't get in trouble.


As for the YOU contacting HIM, this sounds ridiculous. I highly doubt any police officer would allow them to pres charges for being email friends with their son. So try not to worry too much.
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