Ohio Revised Code 2151.031 defines an abused child as any child who is:
• the victim of sexual activity;
• is endangered;
• exhibits evidence of any physical or mental injury or death, inflicted other than by accidental means, or
• an injury or death which is at variance with the history given of it;
• because of the acts of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian,
• suffers physical or mental injury that harms or threatens to harm the child’s health or welfare; or
• is subjected to out-of-home care child abuse.
Ohio Revised Code 2151.03 defines a neglected child as any child who is:
• abandoned by the child’s parents, guardian, or custodian;
• who lacks adequate parental care because of the faults or habits of the child’s parents, guardian, or custodian;
• whose parents, guardian, or custodian neglects the child or refuses to provide proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical or surgical care or treatment, or
• other care necessary for the child’s health, morals, or well-being;
• whose parents, guardian, or custodian neglects the child or refuses to provide the special care made necessary by the child’s mental condition;
• whose parents, legal guardian, or custodian have placed or attempted to place the child in violation of state child custody laws;
• who, because of the omission of the child’s parents, guardian, or custodian, suffers physical or mental injury that harms or threatens to harm the child’s health or welfare;
• or who is subjected to out-of-home care child neglect.
Under Ohio Revised Code 2919.22, an alleged offender can be charged with endangering children if he or she does any of the following to a child under 18 years of age or a mentally or physically handicapped child under 21 years of age:
• abuses the child;
• tortures or cruelly abuses the child;
• administers corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure, or physically restrains the child in a cruel manner or for a prolonged period, which punishment, discipline, or restraint is excessive under the circumstances and creates a substantial risk of serious physical harm to the child;
• repeatedly administers unwarranted disciplinary measures to the child, when there is a substantial risk that such conduct, if continued, will seriously impair or retard the child’s mental health or development;
• entices, coerces, permits, encourages, compels, hires, employs, uses, or allows the child to act, model, or in any other way participate in, or be photographed for, the production, presentation, dissemination, or advertisement of any material or performance that the offender knows or reasonably should know is obscene, is sexually oriented matter, or is nudity-oriented matter;
• allows the child to be on the same parcel of real property and within 100 feet of, or, in the case of more than one housing unit on the same parcel of real property, in the same housing unit and within 100 feet of the illegal manufacture of drugs or the illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for manufacture of drugs when the alleged offender knows that the act is occurring.
Penalties for Child Abuse & Neglect
Child abuse or neglect violations are classified as first-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to 180 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. If an alleged offender has been previously convicted of a similar charge, the crime increases to a fourth-degree felony and punishable by up to 18 months in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000. If the crime in question resulted in serious physical harm to the child involved, the offense is increased to a third-degree felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
The Wieczorek Law Firm defends clients throughout the greater Cincinnati area against domestic violence charges such as child abuse and neglect. Contact us 24/7 for a free review of your case. Time is not on your side and you need an attorney you can trust to utilizing every defense possible to receive the best outcome.