Criminal Defense Lawyer Files: Stopping The Development Of Child Endangerment

Criminal Defense Lawyer Files: Stopping The Development Of Child Endangerment

Each week, the news media jolts us with a new story about an additional case of child endangerment. Some include ditzy celebs putting their children in danger; others are gruesome instances of child maltreatment or neglect from the human population at large. Under U.S. criminal law, “child endangerment” contains any kind of act which puts a youngster in a potentially damaging situation, possibly through neglect or outright misconduct by a responsible grownup. Based on the circumstances, and the degree of harm to the victim, child endangerment could be either a felony or simply a misdemeanor.

Youngster endangerment is a criminal offense that involves the subjection of minor kids to unacceptable or dangerous situations. It is totally different from child abuse, which entails direct injury to kids, but carries a similar penalty within the American judicial system. Often, parents as well as others responsible for kids break child endangerment regulations without realizing that their behavior is criminal. For instance, a father who has way too many drinks while he’s watching his four-year-old child could be tried for child endangerment because he was inebriated while he was in charge of a child. The objective of child endangerment regulations is to keep children from seeing adult or illegal activity, and safeguard them from conditions in which they might get hurt.

Child Endangerment guidelines make it a criminal offense to endanger the health or life of a child through an adult’s recklessness or indifference. A number of states incorporate child endangerment offenses in existing child maltreatment statutes. Other states made child endangerment a different offense. Georgia is the sole state in the country having no specific felony child endangerment statute, and currently before the 2002 Georgia General Assembly is House Bill 453, drawn up to create such an offense. This particular post evaluates the issues surrounding the possible enactment of this proposed legislation.

For purposes of this particular assessment, a child endangerment statute will be defined as a regulation making a criminal offense, either misdemeanor or felony, which sets a standard of criminal negligence and criminal responsibility, for conduct or omission of conduct towards a young child that produces a considerable threat of injury to the little one. The legal definition of criminal negligence in the direction of a young child specifies or implies a legal duty that’s been breached by a person who has custody and control over the youngster placed in danger. How the Georgia General Assembly defines the lawful responsibility, the risk of peril a child encounters, the mens rea necessary to create criminal legal responsibility, and whether there shall be legal exemptions for particular kinds of conduct, are questions the courts will evaluate carefully.

Chemical endangerment of a minor is a punishable crime. It describes the act or occasion of purposefully exposing a child to chemical substances or controlled substances and thus causing damage. The direct exposure could be even when the child is inside the mother’s womb. Neglect is frequently defined as the inability of a parent or some other person with responsibility for the child to provide the required food, clothing, refuge, health care, or supervision such that the child’s wellness, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm.