## Facts

- Colleen Hermesmann, then a teenager, provided babysitting/day care for Shane Seyer, a minor.
- Hermesmann and Seyer began a sexual relationship when she was 16 and he was 12; it continued for months with frequent intercourse.
- A child, Melanie, was born on May 30, 1989; at conception, Seyer was 13 and Hermesmann was 17.
- Hermesmann received public assistance benefits and assigned her and the child’s support rights to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS).
- Hermesmann was subjected to juvenile delinquency proceedings arising out of the sexual conduct and was adjudicated a juvenile offender based on a stipulation to contributing to a child’s misconduct.
- SRS filed a civil action to establish Seyer’s paternity and obtain reimbursement for past public assistance and an order for ongoing support.
- Seyer did not dispute biological paternity but argued he could not be held liable for support because he was legally incapable of consenting under criminal law and was the victim of an offense.

## Issues

1. Whether a minor male deemed incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse under criminal law may still be treated as a parent responsible for child support in a civil proceeding.
2. Whether public policy permits imposing child-support liability on a minor father when conception resulted from conduct that constituted a criminal offense by the mother.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s order requiring Seyer to pay child support and awarding SRS reimbursement for benefits paid.
- The court held a minor father may be liable for child support even if he was below the criminal age of consent and the mother’s conduct was criminal.
- The court concluded the mother’s criminal culpability did not affect the father’s civil support obligation.
- The court relied on Kansas public policy favoring support by both parents and treated the child’s right to support as controlling.

## Legal Principles

- A parent’s duty to support a child applies regardless of the parents’ marital status and may be imposed on a minor parent.
- Criminal-law incapacity to consent does not bar a civil determination that the biological father must support his child.
- In a paternity/support action, the other parent’s criminal wrongdoing related to conception does not negate or offset the child’s right to support or the father’s obligation.
- The State’s interest in securing support for children and reducing reliance on public assistance outweighs competing protective aims that might otherwise favor shielding a minor from consequences of sexual activity.

## Conclusion

Kansas law imposes child-support liability on a minor biological father even when the child was conceived through sexual conduct that was criminal as to the mother; the child’s entitlement to support and the State’s interest in shared parental responsibility control the civil outcome.


State ex rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer, 252 Kan. 646, 847 P.2d 1273 (Kan. 1993)