Child abuse
The term “child abuse” shall mean intentionally, knowingly or recklessly doing any of the following:
Perpetrator
Distinguishes between those committing abuse and those failing to act
• Causing bodily injury to a child through any
recent act or failure to act.
• Fabricating, feigning or intentionally
exaggerating or inducing a medical
symptom or disease that results in a
potentially harmful medical evaluation or
treatment to the child through any recent act.
• Causing or substantially contributing to serious
mental injury to a child through any act
or failure to act or a series of such acts or
failures to act.
• Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of a
child through any act or failure to act.
• Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily
injury to a child through any recent act or
failure to act.
• Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or
exploitation of a child through any recent act
or failure to act.
• Causing serious physical neglect of a child.
• Perpetrator: acts of abuse (commission)
- parent of the child
- spouse or former spouse of the child’s parent
- paramour or former paramour of the child’s parent
- person 14 or older and responsible for the child’s welfare
- individual 14 or older who resides in the same home as the child
- individual 18 or older who does not reside in the same home as the child but is related within the
third degree of consanguinity or affinity by birth or adoption to the child.
• Engaging in any of the following recent acts:
º Kicking, biting, throwing, burning, stabbing or
cutting a child in endangering way.
º Unreasonably restraining or confining a child,
based on consideration of method, location or
duration of the restraint or confinement.
º Forcefully shaking a child under one year of age.
º Forcefully slapping or otherwise striking a child
under one year of age.
º Interfering with the breathing of a child.
º Causing a child to be present at a meth lab
location under investigation by law enforcement.
º Leaving a child unsupervised with an individual,
other than the child’s parent, who the actor knows
or reasonably should have known:
▫ is required to register as a Tier II or Tier
III sexual offender where the victim of the
sexual offense was under 18 years of
age when the crime was committed.
▫ is a sexually violent predator
▫ is a sexually violent delinquent child
• Causing the death of the child through any act or
failure to act.
Terms in red defined on reverse side
Child Abuse and Perpetrator: What’s New?
Effective as of 12/31/14
