Opinion ID: 2010412
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: delinquent child

Text: Section 28-709(2)(a) defines [d]elinquent child as any child under the age of eighteen years who has violated any law of the state or any city or village ordinance. K.P. was under the age of 18 at all times relevant to VanAckeren's conviction. Her date of birth is April 20, 1983. On April 18, 1999, the date of the encounter at the truckstop, K.P. was 15 years old; on April 24, the date of the encounter at VanAckeren's home, she was 16 years old. The uncontroverted evidence in this case shows that K.P. violated a Nebraska state law as a result of VanAckeren's encouragement. In his April 18, 1999, telephone call, VanAckeren asked K.P. to meet him at a truckstop at the edge of Norfolk. K.P. testified, and the county court found, that on April 18, K.P. drove without a driver's license on the public streets to meet VanAckeren at the truckstop. This violated Neb.Rev.Stat. § 60-484 (Reissue 1998) as it existed in 1999, which stated that no resident of the State of Nebraska shall operate a motor vehicle upon the alleys or highways of the State of Nebraska until the person has obtained an operator's license for that purpose. The record shows that K.P. had a school permit which allowed her to drive for the sole purpose of transporting [herself] or any family member who resides with [her] to attend school. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 60-4,124 (Reissue 1998). By driving to a truckstop at 8 p.m. on April 18, K.P. was not attend[ing] school, and thus was violating § 60-4,124. The record shows that VanAckeren's invitations also caused K.P. to violate a city or village ordinance. See § 28-709(2)(a). K.P. testified that on April 24, 1999, she was spending the night at a friend's house in Norfolk. After a 1 a.m. telephone call from VanAckeren asking her to come to his house, K.P. snuck out the window of her friend's home around 1:30 or 2 in the morning to meet VanAckeren. K.P. acknowledged that she got a ride with some guys and traveled the public streets in Norfolk to reach VanAckeren's home. The county court found that K.P.'s actions violated the city curfew in Norfolk, § 14-318(a) of the Norfolk Municipal Code, which prohibits any person under the age of eighteen (18) years to loiter, idle, wander, stroll, or play in or upon the public streets, highways, roads, alleys ... or to ride in or upon ... any automobile, bicycle or other vehicle in, upon, over, or through the streets, alleys, or other public places of the city, between the hours of 10:30 p.m. on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and 6:00 a.m. of the following day, and between the hours of 12:00 midnight on Fridays and 6:00 a.m. on Saturdays, and between the hours of 12:00 midnight on Saturdays and 6:00 a.m. on Sundays, unless such person is accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other adult person having the legal care and custody of such minor person, or unless said minor person is upon an emergency errand or legitimate business, directed by his parent, guardian, or legal custodian. The record establishes that K.P. was under 18 years of age and violated a law of the state and a city or village ordinance. Having done so, she became a delinquent child for the purposes of § 28-709. The record is also clear that VanAckeren encouraged K.P.'s delinquency. VanAckeren's requests that K.P. meet him during the evening or in the early hours of the morning for sexual encounters encouraged, caused, and contributed to K.P.'s violations of Nebraska state law and a Norfolk city ordinance. We find that VanAckeren engaged in conduct clearly prohibited by § 28-709(1). Accordingly, we determine that VanAckeren lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of § 28-709 on vagueness grounds.