Should a parent who does not molest his/her child but only threatens to do so go to prison?

This is assuming the threat to sexually molest the child was spoken to the child in a serious, threatening manner, in secret, of course, not in front of anyone but the child. I realize that under those circumstances it would be difficult to convict a parent in a court of law, but I don't want a legal opinion here, just your take on it; after all, nothing really happened, right? The child was not actually molested, only threatened with it. If it makes any difference, assume that the child is about 9 or 10 years old and a girl.

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bijouxbroussard · F

Anyone who could even express such an idea to a child should be arrested for menacing. I'm not sure how there could be any [b]doubt[/b] about it. 😑

greenmountaingal · 70-79, F

@bijouxbroussard Thank you. I grew up in a very strange world. And I have often found that people find reasons to let abusers off the hook. I, too, have no doubt about it. A threat like this should have put the parent in prison.