NCJ Number
152803
Date Published
1994
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This document summarizes State and territorial legislation pertaining to specific crimes involving the abandonment and neglect of children.
Abstract
The summaries are designed to provide a reference for persons researching criminal child abuse legislation; they present an abridged and potentially incomplete picture of charging statutes in various States and is intended only as an initial reference. The entries do not include sentencing information for every statute, although this information is occasionally included in the text of statutes annotated here. Statutes regarding contributing to the delinquency of a minor are omitted unless they include specific language related to child neglect. However, the compilation does include statutes defining child endangerment. Finally, the editors excluded statutes defining criminal nonsupport when the offense is limited to failure to pay child support. However, criminal nonsupport statutes that provide sanctions for failure to provide food, clothing, medical care, and other necessities to children are included.