Dennis Hopper's son, Henry, accused of raping 15 year old girl

**WhateverLolaWants** · July 31st, 2012, 11:06 AM

I think you can if the daughter is under aged, as she was.

**greysfang** · July 31st, 2012, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by WhateverLolaWants

I don't know enough about the case to make a truly educated guess, but is it possible daughter was actually consensual and thus uninterested in going to the police and so mom is going after him for defiling her precious angel?

It could indeed be rape; but if it is, as above mentioned, why not go to the police? At first glance it sounds like two young people got together on the internet, got high and drunk and screwed around. Its not like the guy is 30. He is just now 21 and not too much older than the girl in question.

He could very well be a predator and need to be brought to justice, there is just a lot here that throws shade on this being a cut and dry case.

If she was 15 at the time its rape. The law doesn't give her the right of consent.

**WhateverLolaWants** · July 31st, 2012, 11:11 AM

True. He was only 19 or 20 at the time, but still legally an adult, so their activity would be illegal regardless of intent by either party.

**MontanaMama** · July 31st, 2012, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by sluce

I don't see how you can sue someone for having consensual sex with your daughter if you do not believe it is illegal so you are filing charges. Hell, if that were the case, millions of us would be in court every single say to sue people who did not please us sexually, and so on....

If he gave her drugs and booze, it's contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possibly statutory rape.

Originally Posted by greysfang

If she was 15 at the time its rape. The law doesn't give her the right of consent.

True, and if there was a time lag, there wouldn't be the physical evidence generally necessary for a criminal prosecution.

**dallison** · July 31st, 2012, 11:19 AM

I won't pretend to know the mother's motivations, but I have seen programs and articles where a victim's family will sue who they believe "did it" and it isn't about the money. If there isn't enough to get the police to arrest someone or prosecute, a civil case can actually build up more of a legal case against someone, resulting in an arrest or trial.
Maybe this is one of those situations?

**WhateverLolaWants** · July 31st, 2012, 11:22 AM

That's very possible, Dallison. The lack of current evidence, as MM mentioned, might play a heavy hand in that. We don't know when mom found out, after all.

**Laurent** · July 31st, 2012, 11:24 AM

It's also possible that this is still being investigated or is waiting for grand jury indictment. There are a lot of places that won't arrest before indictment on rape because of the nature of the charges.