Child Abuse Crimes

Individuals who are charged with child abuse and neglect or aggravated child abuse and neglect face serious consequences including jail time and losing custody of their children. If you have been charged with child abuse and neglect, you need to contact a skilled criminal defense attorney right away. If you have been falsely accused of child abuse and neglect, it is critical that you seek legal assistance from an attorney immediately. Unless you take immediate action to protect your legal rights and explore your actions, you are looking at serious consequences.

Under California Law, child abuse requires that a person knowingly treats a child less than eighteen years of age in such a manner that the child sustains an injury. For purposes of this statute, it is the actual act of treating a child in an abusive manner that must be knowing conduct; a defendant need not know that his or her conduct will result in serious bodily injury.

Child neglect, on the other hand requires proof of three material elements:

1. That a person knowingly neglected a child,
2. That the child's age is within the applicable range set forth in the statute, and
3. That the neglect adversely affected the child's health and welfare.

As to element two, courts have ruled that actions negatively affecting a fetus do not constitute child neglect, such as when a pregnant woman ingests crack-cocaine.

If you have been accused of child abuse and neglect or aggravated child abuse or neglect, please contact an experienced and skilled criminal defense lawyer. Call the Law Offices of Kyle J. Humphrey today for a confidential consultation.