To start off, this may be a legal question, but it’s a hypothetical, as I’m uninvolved with the situation and not in communication with anyone involved.
The thread is inspired by ongoing events described on the Rover’s Morning Glory radio show aired in Cleveland and a select few other markets.
Apparently one of the show staffers [let’s call him Jim] has drawn the ire of an associate.
Scenario:
Children’s party is being held.
Female, 7 years old, is in attendance at said party.
A discussion at the party mentions the fact that female in question has hairy legs.
Female is hesitant to go in pool at party due to hairy legs.
Jim, a radio professional and adult male of no relation to female, takes female into a bathroom, closes the door, and helps her shave her legs. Somewhere in this equation Jim winds up shirtless, which Jim explains is an effort to avoid getting shaving cream on Jim’s shirt.
Jim and female exit bathroom, female goes swimming.
Now, it is evident at first reading that Jim did something that certainly irks a number of people and would leave the rest wondering why he would do that.
If Jim is taken at his word and no suppositions are made as to any facts not included in the above story, can Jim be charged with any crimes?
Might there be any grounds for civil action?
I’m thinking the whole thing is monstrously stupid, but I’m having trouble deciding if any laws have been broken.
Anyone want to chime in?
If he shaved her legs without consent I suppose there could be some sort of assault or battery criminal charge. If she “suffered emotional distress” then battery is a tort and her parents could sue him for it but as explained in the OP I don’t see a lot of chance for success. IANAL etc.
WHy, what crime do you think he might have committed?
Do you have to of a certain age to consent to leg shaving, though? If an adult who isn’t her legal guardian offered her cookies/sandwiches/[insert food she’s not allergic to here], would that be something she’d need to be of a certain age to consent to?
I know that leg shaving isn’t quite the same as offering food, but when does an activity become something that you need to be old enough to consent to?
Seems a little shady in the context of today’s world - but honestly, it sounds to me like the girl didn’t like the hair, a kind adult helped, and it was a nice thing of him to do. Plus she’s only 7, which makes sexual motives much less likely, in my opinion, than if she were 15 or 16 with a fully developed rack.
I’d be pretty pissed off at every adult involved. Seven year olds are supposed to have hairy legs. Did her parents just drop her off and scarper (a common occurrence around here)? Why didn’t another parent intervene?
I doubt he could be charged with anything, since the parents apparently left the kid in custody of whoever happened to be hanging around, but, really, I have to think there was way too much alcohol for a kids’swim party involved here. What grown man would do that if he was in his right mind?
I think it becomes an activity you have to consent to when it involves being in a bathroom alone with a shirtless man and a razor.
Was it a really nice shirt that one would definitely not want to get shaving cream on? 'Cause if it was just a regular shirt, yeah that might be a little weird. It’s just the kind of thing where we need more information, and I hate to judge people based on incomplete data. I’d rather reserve judgment in a case like this.
I believe the issue isn’t whether you have a right to shave a little girl’s legs, but rather whether you have a right to go with a little girl into a room alone for the sake of putting your hands near her intimate bits.
I couldn’t say what all legal issues there might be to either case, though.
In the hospital, removing hair from anywhere requires consent.
A parent must consent to alterations on a child’s body. If the parent didn’t want the child shaved, it would be battery, I believe.
Aside: Leg hair is a secondary sexual characteric, it would be very unusual for a seven year old to have any.
If you’re asking me directly on this rather than talking out loud, I don’t know any details on the shirt.
I put most of what I know in my first post.
I would speculate that if you’re going to the pool you’re probably not wearing a real nice shirt.
Incidentally, the radio personality involved likely makes slightly over minimum wage, so he’s probably not buying a whole lot of designer clothes.
Not so unusual. I don’t remember ever not having leg hair. I’m pretty sure I had it when I was around seven. I do remember wishing they weren’t so hairy back then. I also had a bunch on my arms. (Thankfully, it can all be removed at will now.)
To paraphrase Morrissey, some girls are hairier than others.
I’ve had hair removed on more than one occasion and nobody on the hospital staff so much as mentioned it to me before it happened. I woke up and when I looked down I said, “it’s all gone!” They didn’t even care to do it gently, 'cause I had razor burn like a mutherfucker when I woke up. Ouch. Would I be able to convince the cops something inappropriate happened to me while in the hospital? Seriously doubt it.
I’ve had occasion to be around lots of 7-year-old. They do have leg hair, but even on the darkest girls it is very fine and shouldn’t be an issue to anyone. 7 is too young to be shaving.
At the very least they all should be ashamed of themselves for making her feel self-conscious about it. It would be like teasing a first or second grader for not needing a bra yet.
Regardless of how honorable the intentions may be (and I thing the motives are questionable at best in this case), spiriting someone else’s child off behind closed doors is an idiot move, especially when even the ostensibly “innocent” explanation involves something as intimate and handsy as leg shaving, and extra especially when the adult emerges from the room in a partial state of undress. I don’t know if any laws were broken but if someone did that to my 7 year old I’d be having a serious heart-to-heart with Mr. Helpful.
If all my experience working with kids in public schools and other settings ever taught me anything, it’s this: Don’t EVER put yourself in a situation where you are alone with someone else’s child for any reason or for any length of time.
This situation should have never happened. A male going into a closed room with a young female. Now days definitely not a good idea. Who knows what happened behind them doors. If for some reason the young girl should accuse the male of something there is always two sides to a story. Consent or not for shaving the young girls legs. It should have never happened.
Guy is a jerk and stupid to boot. Kid’s parents might have forbidden her to shave her legs for some kooky religious reason. Guy might expect a visit from a father or a lawyer or both.
Today’s world? Huh? Is dodgy behaviour by adult men towards prepubescent girls somehow more prevalent in “today’s world”? Or do you mean we are more sensitive about it?