You cannot personally press charges against a child for assaulting your child, because in every U.S. state the decision to file criminal or delinquency charges belongs to the prosecutor, not to the victim’s family. What you can do is report the assault to the police, get your child medically documented, and cooperate fully with the juvenile prosecutor’s office as it decides whether to file a delinquency petition. Alongside that, you have a separate civil path: you can sue the offending child’s parents for your child’s medical bills, therapy costs, and other losses, and that case moves forward on its own regardless of what the juvenile court does.
Why the Prosecutor Decides, Not You
“Pressing charges” is one of the most misunderstood phrases in criminal law. In every U.S. jurisdiction, charging authority sits with the prosecutor — typically the district attorney or county attorney. The Supreme Court held in Linda R.S. v. Richard D. that a private citizen has no legally recognized right to compel or prevent the prosecution of another person. Your role is to report, provide evidence, and cooperate. The prosecutor evaluates that evidence and decides whether formal charges are warranted.
This cuts both ways. The case does not stall because you have not personally filed something, and it does not automatically move forward because you demand it. Prosecutors weigh the severity of the assault, the ages of the children, the strength of the evidence, and whether a diversion program might better serve the situation. A thorough police report backed by strong evidence gives the prosecutor more to work with, so what you do in the days after the assault genuinely shapes the outcome.
What to Do Right Now
Contact local law enforcement and file a police report. Give officers every detail you can: what happened, when and where, who witnessed it, and what your child told you. Bring physical evidence — torn clothing, screenshots of threats, video if it exists.
Get your child seen by a doctor as soon as possible, even if injuries look minor. Ask the doctor to photograph and describe every visible injury, note complaints of pain, and document your child’s emotional state. Medical records tie the injuries to the incident on a documented timeline, and they support both a delinquency case and any civil claim you file later.
Once the police report is in, the case may be referred to the juvenile division of the prosecutor’s office. There, a prosecutor reviews the evidence and decides whether to file a delinquency petition — the juvenile system’s version of criminal charges. The petition is filed by the state, not by you, and it alleges the child committed an act that would be a crime if an adult had done it. At this stage, some offices also consider mediation or diversion, depending on the assault’s severity and the offending child’s history.
Is the Other Child Old Enough to Be Charged
Age is the first legal gate. Most states do not set a statutory minimum age for criminal responsibility, which technically means a child of any age could face delinquency proceedings. Among states that do set a floor, the range runs from age 7 to age 10.1Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court – Table 8 Some states that allow prosecution of very young children still require the state to prove the child understood the wrongfulness of the act, which is a much higher bar than simply showing the child did it.
In practice, prosecutors rarely file delinquency petitions against children under 10 or 11 no matter what the statute allows. A 7-year-old who hits another child at recess is far more likely to be handled through school discipline and family intervention than through the courts. When an older child, roughly 12 and up, commits a serious assault with real injury, the juvenile system is much more likely to get involved. Maturity, intent, and any history of prior incidents all factor in.
How the Juvenile Court Process Works
Juvenile courts operate differently from adult criminal courts in almost every way. The stated goal is rehabilitation rather than punishment. Proceedings are less formal and more private, and juvenile records are typically kept confidential, with access limited to parents, law enforcement, school officials, and the attorneys in the case.
Intake and Adjudication
After a petition is filed, the case begins with intake. A court officer reviews it and decides whether to dismiss, handle it informally through a diversion agreement, or set it for a formal hearing. The seriousness of the assault, the child’s age and prior record, and whether the victim’s family supports prosecution or an alternative all factor in.
If the case moves forward, it goes to adjudication, which is the juvenile equivalent of a trial. The Supreme Court held in In re Winship that the state must prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, the same standard used in adult court.2Justia. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970) The accused child has due process rights under In re Gault, including the right to an attorney, the right to confront witnesses, and the privilege against self-incrimination.3Justia. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967)
Disposition
If the court finds the child responsible, the case moves to disposition, the juvenile version of sentencing. Judges have broad discretion. Common outcomes include probation with regular check-ins, mandatory counseling or anger management, community service, and restitution to the victim. The court may also require the offending child’s parents to participate in family counseling or parenting programs. In more serious cases, the court can order placement in a juvenile detention facility, though that is generally reserved for children who pose a real safety risk or have a pattern of repeated offenses.
When the Case Can Move to Adult Court
In severe cases, a juvenile case can be transferred to adult criminal court. All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow this through at least one mechanism: judicial waiver, prosecutorial direct file, or statutory exclusion, where certain offenses automatically start in adult court.4Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Court
Age thresholds and qualifying offenses vary by state. Many states allow or require transfer for juveniles age 16 and older charged with conduct that would be a felony in adult court. Some permit transfer for children as young as 13 or 14 when the charge involves a violent felony.4Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Court Judges deciding on waiver typically weigh the seriousness of the offense, whether it was aggressive or premeditated, the child’s prior record, and the likelihood the juvenile system can rehabilitate the child before its jurisdiction ends.
Transfer is rare for a typical schoolyard fight. It comes into play when the assault caused serious bodily injury, involved a weapon, or where the child has a significant history of violent behavior. Even in adult court, major Supreme Court decisions limit what can be imposed on someone under 18. Capital punishment for crimes committed by anyone under 18 is unconstitutional under Roper v. Simmons,5SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. Roper v. Simmons and life without parole for non-homicide offenses committed by juveniles is barred under Graham v. Florida.6Cornell Law Institute. Graham v. Florida
What the Offending Child Actually Faces
Consequences turn on the specifics: how serious the assault was, how old the child is, and whether there is a prior history. For a first-time, relatively minor incident, many jurisdictions offer diversion programs that keep the case out of court entirely. These typically involve counseling, conflict resolution workshops, and community service. If the child completes the program, the case closes without a formal finding of delinquency.
For more serious assaults or repeat offenders, formal adjudication can result in probation with curfews, school attendance requirements, and regular meetings with a probation officer, placement in a residential treatment facility, or detention in a juvenile facility. Courts frequently order anger management and behavioral programs.
Juvenile courts can also order the child, or the child’s parents, to pay restitution for medical expenses, counseling costs, and other documented losses. Nearly every state has a parental responsibility law that lets courts require parents to make restitution payments when their child cannot.7Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Parental Responsibility Laws That means the disposition itself may cover some of your child’s bills.
Suing the Parents in Civil Court
The juvenile justice system is not your only option. You can file a civil lawsuit for financial compensation completely separately from any delinquency proceeding. Civil cases use a lower burden of proof, preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, and they put money back in your pocket for medical bills, therapy, and pain and suffering.
Parental Responsibility Statutes
Nearly every state holds parents civilly responsible for harm caused by their minor children through parental responsibility statutes. Most cap recovery at a specific dollar amount, and the caps vary dramatically. Some states limit recovery to as little as $800 or $1,000. Others allow up to $25,000 per incident. A handful of states, including Florida, Hawaii, and Louisiana, impose no cap, meaning parents face potentially unlimited financial exposure for their child’s intentional acts.7Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Parental Responsibility Laws These statutes typically cover both property damage and personal injury, though some states limit recovery to property damage alone. A local attorney can tell you quickly whether your state’s law covers assault injuries and what the cap is.
Negligent Supervision Claims
When the statutory cap is too low to cover your child’s actual losses, a negligent supervision claim is the second avenue. This is a traditional personal injury lawsuit arguing that the other child’s parents failed to provide the level of supervision a reasonable parent would have exercised, and that failure led directly to your child’s injuries. You need to prove four things: the parents had a duty to supervise, they breached it, the breach caused the assault, and your child suffered real damages.
Negligent supervision claims are harder to win than parental responsibility claims because you must prove the parents themselves did something wrong, not just that their child did. But they are not subject to statutory caps, which makes them the better vehicle when the injuries are serious. The strongest cases involve parents who knew their child had violent tendencies and failed to intervene, or who left a known aggressive child unsupervised with other children.
Restorative Justice as an Alternative
Some jurisdictions offer restorative justice programs as an alternative to formal prosecution. The most common format is victim-offender mediation: your child, the offending child, and both sets of parents sit down with a trained mediator in a structured setting. The goal is for the offending child to hear directly how their actions affected your child, take personal responsibility, and agree to a concrete plan for making amends, usually involving a written apology, restitution payments, and behavioral commitments.8United States Courts. The Impact of Mediation and Conferencing on Juvenile Recidivism
Studies consistently show that 80 to 90 percent of both victims and offenders report satisfaction with the mediation process, and about 90 percent of mediations produce restitution agreements that are actually completed.8United States Courts. The Impact of Mediation and Conferencing on Juvenile Recidivism Restorative justice is not right for every case. A serious assault or a child with a pattern of violence probably needs formal court intervention. For moderate incidents, though, it often produces better outcomes for everyone involved.
Keeping Your Child Safe While the Case Moves
Your immediate priority is preventing further contact. Several tools help.
Restraining and Protective Orders
Most jurisdictions allow you to seek a restraining or protective order that bars the offending child from contacting or approaching your child. These orders are enforceable by law enforcement, so a violation can bring additional legal consequences for the child or their parents. To obtain one you generally need to present evidence of a credible threat, and the police report and medical records from the assault usually satisfy that. An attorney or the courthouse self-help center can walk you through the petition.
School-Based Protections
If both children attend the same school, request an immediate meeting with administrators. Most schools have policies on violence and bullying that allow them to separate the children into different classrooms, staggered schedules, or a different campus. Ask the school to put any safety plan in writing. If you have a restraining order, give the school a copy so staff can enforce it during school hours.
One frustration to prepare for: under the federal student privacy law FERPA, K-12 schools generally cannot tell you what disciplinary action they took against the other child.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 U.S. Code 1232g – Family Educational and Privacy Rights The exception that lets crime victims learn disciplinary outcomes applies only to colleges and universities, not elementary and secondary schools. You may never learn whether the school suspended or expelled the child who hurt yours. Focus on what you can control, which is the safety measures the school puts in place going forward.
Community Resources
Child advocacy centers and victim advocacy organizations provide services designed for children who have experienced violence, including trauma-focused therapy, help navigating the court system, and victim advocates who can accompany your family through legal proceedings.10Office for Victims of Crime. Child Victims and Witnesses Going to Court Many of these services are free. Your local prosecutor’s office or police department can refer you to resources in your area.
What a Juvenile Record Actually Means
Juvenile records do not automatically disappear when a child turns 18. State laws on sealing and expungement vary widely, and most require someone — the court, the prosecutor, or the former juvenile — to actively initiate the process.11Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Expunging Juvenile Records Some states require a waiting period of several years and a showing of rehabilitation before sealing.
For you as the victim’s parent, that means a juvenile adjudication creates a real record even though the proceedings themselves are confidential. If the same child assaults another person later, that record can shape how the juvenile system responds next time, including whether the case gets transferred to adult court.
Using Both Tracks
The strongest approach is dual-track: cooperate with the juvenile justice system while separately evaluating a civil claim. The delinquency case addresses accountability and community safety. The civil case addresses your child’s financial losses. Neither depends on the other, and pursuing both at the same time is common and entirely legal. An attorney experienced in juvenile matters can tell you what outcomes are realistic in your state, help you decide whether to pursue a civil claim alongside the delinquency case, and represent your child’s interests if the case reaches a restitution hearing.