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Child Abuse Legislation: Perpetrator Acts and Failures to Act, Summaries of Law

The definition of child abuse according to pennsylvania law, focusing on the actions and failures to act of the perpetrator. Various forms of abuse, including bodily injury, fabrication of symptoms, sexual abuse, and neglect. It also specifies the individuals who can be considered perpetrators and the recent acts that constitute abuse. The document was updated on december 31, 2014.

What you will learn

  • What recent acts constitute child abuse according to Pennsylvania law?
  • What are the different forms of child abuse according to Pennsylvania law?
  • Who can be considered a perpetrator of child abuse under Pennsylvania law?

Typology: Summaries

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/12/2022

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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
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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/

- Perpetrator: failure to act (omission): - parent of the child - a spouse or former spouse - paramour or former paramour of a parent - person 18 or older who is responsible for the child's welfare - a person 18 or older who resides in the same home as the child

Definitions

Bodily injury - Impairment of physical condition or substantial pain Recent act - Any act committed within two years of the date of the report to the PA Department of Human Services or county agency Serious physical neglect - Any of the following that endangers life or health, threatens well-being, causes bodily injury or impairs a health, development or functioning:

  • Repeated, prolonged or unconscionable egregious failure to supervise in a manner appropriate to developmental age and abilities
  • Failure to provide adequate essentials of life, including food, shelter or medical care Person responsible for the child’s welfare - Someone who provides permanent or temporary care, supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training or control of a child in lieu of parental care, supervision and control. Includes people who have direct or regular contact with a child through any program, activity or service sponsored by a school, for-profit organization or religious or other not-for-profit organization. Third Degree of Consanguinity (birth) and Affinity (marriage) includes: parents, brothers/ sisters; half brothers/half sisters; grandparents; uncles/aunts; great-grandparents; step mothers/ fathers; step brothers/sisters; step grandparents; step uncles/step aunts; step great-grandparents Sexual abuse or exploitation Any of the following: (1) Employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which includes the following acts that arouse or gratify sexual desire in any individual: ▫ Looking at the sexual or other intimate parts of a child or another individual ▫ Participating in sexually explicit conversation either in person, by telephone, by computer or by a computer-aided device ▫ Actual or simulated sexual activity or nudity ▫ Actual or simulated sexual activity for the purpose of producing visual depiction, including photographing, videotaping, computer depicting or filming Paragraph (1) does not include consensual activities between a child who is 14 years or older and another person who is 14 or older and whose age is within four years of the child’s age. (2) Any of the following offenses committed against a child, as defined in state law: Rape; statutory sexual assault; involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; sexual assault; institutional sexual assault; aggravated indecent assault; indecent assault; indecent exposure; incest; prostitution; sexual abuse; unlawful contact with a minor; sexual exploitation. Produced by the DHS Office of Community Relations 12/ Source materials: PA Child Welfare Resource Center; PA Child Protective Services Law and Webster’s Dictionary