17 year old son punched my husband in the face, gave him a black eye. Hit him twice in the back of the head. The teen left and has not come back, can we press charges or are we still legally responsible for him until he is 18 in October?

What did the Police say? In order NOT to be responsible for him there has to be a Court proceeding - you can move to have him made a ward of the Court, emancipated, something else.

You can't press charges. Your husband can and should.

Depending on how long your son has been gone he COULD be picked up as a runaway.

That's for the Police to decide.

How long as your son been gone, and is your husband this child's father?

I don't know where you are, but you are legally responsible for him until he is an adult.

I have no idea what the history is like of this boy, your husband, and yourself. Has there been mutual combat between the two males, or have you also been assaulted?

It doesn't sound like 'new' behaviour, and any physical assault on anyone, can and should be reported. Because your son is not yet an adult, you can expect CPS/CAS to get involved, depending upon where you are. Maybe some intervention is necessary, and this might be your only hope.

The two questions are not mutually exclusive. Yes you are responsible for him until he's 18, but that doesn't preclude your husband from filing assault charges or reporting him as a runaway.

As soon as it happened and the evidence was visible, you call the police and make a report. Normally that will cause charges to be filed by the DA. If you wait too long they may not take it seriously. But you can still call.

** when did it happen and why was police not called when it happened.

Yes you are responible but filing charges does not effect that.