How to press charges for child endangerment

How to File Endangerment to a Child Charges

By Sameca Pandova

Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images

Child endangerment statutes exist in every state and generally prohibit any person to cause or permit a child to suffer, or willfully permit circumstances or conditions that are likely to produce great bodily injury to the child when in the custody or care of the adult. Often a charge of child endangerment can be added as an additional charge when law enforcement makes an arrest for other crimes (such as DUI or possession of narcotics) with children present. If you believe that a parent or custodian is endangering a child, you can file a complaint with the police or with social services.

Step 1

Collect information and evidence on the endangerment incidents you believe are occurring. The more specifics you can provide, the more information the police will have to make a determination. Be sure to record time, address, and specific details when possible. If these events are occurring nearby at a neighbor's house, consider videotaping any incidents that occur in public to present to authorities.

Step 2

File a complaint at the local police station. You can either call ahead to ask to set up an appointment with an officer, or walk in and ask to file a complaint. An officer or detective will meet with you to review your allegations, taking a look at the evidence you present. The police will begin investigation of the incident and may follow up with you.

In many states, police officers are mandated reporters who are required by law to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect to the state Department of Human Services. The group of mandated reporters also includes physicians, mental health workers, clergy, school staff, and child care providers. Thus, if you know any of these people who are involved in the abused child's life, contact them to inform them of the alleged abuse.

Read More: What Happens When Charged With Child Endangerment?

Step 3

Contact your state Human Services department or child welfare unit. Most larger cities have dedicated child welfare units, which have their own police investigators. For example, the Michigan Department of Human Services maintains a hotline for anyone to complain about abuse or neglect against a child or an adult.

Contact the county prosecutor's office. Many state or district attorneys maintain dedicated child protection units that have teams of prosecutors, social workers and police officers who work in unison to protect children threatened by abuse or neglect. You can call ahead to schedule an appointment, or walk in to make a complaint.

References

• Michigan.gov; Department of Human Services - Complaint Process
• Michigan.gov; Department of Human Services - Report Abuse Now!
• Michigan.gov; Department of Human Services - Mandated Reporters

Resources

• National District Attorneys Association; Child Neglect & Abandonment State Statutes

Writer Bio

Based near Chicago, Sameca Pandova has been writing since 1995 and now contributes to various websites. He is an attorney with experience in health care, family and criminal prosecution issues. Pandova holds a Master of Laws in health law from Loyola University Chicago, a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science from Case Western.

What Is Considered Child Endangerment?

An analysis of the legal factors considered in a child endangerment case.

By Mark Theoharis

An adult caring for a child has a legal responsibility to ensure that child is free from unreasonably dangerous situations. When an adult caregiver fails to adequately protect a child, states often punish this as a crime known as "child endangerment."

Child endangerment occurs whenever a parent, guardian, or other adult caregiver allows a child to be placed or remain in a dangerous, unhealthy, or inappropriate situation. Some states charge this crime as a type of child abuse.

What Constitutes Child Endangerment?

Though state laws differ in how they categorize and punish child endangerment, it is a crime in every state. State laws share the following characteristics.

Actions or Situations That Endanger Children

Child endangerment laws are often very broadly applied, and any number of acts can lead to a conviction. Courts have held that obviously dangerous activities—such as having a child in a car while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs—constitute child endangerment. Other dangerous activities that qualify include failing to properly secure a child while driving an automobile, exposing a child to drug transactions or manufacturing, having unsecured firearms in the same environment as a child, engaging in sexual activity in view of a child, or leaving a young child without proper supervision.

Actual or Potential Injury to a Child

Child endangerment laws are designed to punish behavior that might lead to a child becoming harmed, but they do not require that children actually suffer an injury or physical harm. State laws often categorize child endangerment as placing a child in a situation that might endanger the child's life, health, welfare, morals, or emotional well-being. However, child endangerment may still be charged in cases where the actions of the caregiver did eventually result in the child being physically injured or harmed.

Reckless Endangerment

To obtain a conviction for child endangerment crime, a prosecutor does not have to show that a parent or caregiver intentionally meant to expose the child to a dangerous situation. The courts apply a "reasonable person" standard in child endangerment cases. This means that even if the accused didn't realize the situation was dangerous, reasonable people in that situation would have understood their actions endangered the child's well-being. The circumstances of each case will determine whether the accused either knew or should have known that the child was endangered.

Generally, an adult caregiver must do more than simply make a mistake or act unwisely. A caregiver must place a child in a situation where it is more likely than not the child will become exposed to harm. Courts have ruled, for example, that parents who left their child in a locked car with the engine running while they went into a store for approximately 40 minutes did not endanger the child.

What Are the Penalties for Child Endangerment?

Child endangerment is punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances of the case and state law. While each state punishes child endangerment differently, the potential punishments for conviction are the same wherever the crime occurs. The difference between a misdemeanor and felony charge often rests upon whether the child was exposed to significant harm or placed in a particularly dangerous situation. Some states also differentiate felonies and misdemeanors based on whether the child suffered actual physical harm as a result of the adult's actions.

Jail or prison. People convicted of a misdemeanor child endangerment charge typically face up to one year in jail. Felony convictions are much more serious, and anyone convicted of felony child endangerment could spend several years in prison or more.

Probation. Courts may also order someone convicted of child endangerment to serve a probation sentence. Probation typically lasts at least a year and requires the convicted person to regularly report to a probation officer, as well as take other actions such as attending family counseling and refraining from further illegal activity. Violating the terms of probation can result in the court ordering a jail or prison sentence.

Fines. Fines imposed for child endangerment convictions differ widely. A misdemeanor child endangerment conviction can bring fines of up to $1,000, while felony convictions can come with fines of up to $10,000 or more.

Parental rights. If a parent or legal guardian is convicted of child endangerment, the court may strip the parent of parental rights. In this situation, either the other parent will retain sole parental rights, or if there is no other parent, the court will appoint a new guardian to care for the child. The child may also be placed with the state child services agency until a new guardian can be appointed.

Talk to a Lawyer

A child endangerment charge is a very serious matter. One that can result in significant criminal penalties as well as the potential loss of parental rights. Anyone facing child endangerment charges should immediately speak to a qualified local criminal defense attorney. An experienced criminal defense attorney can give you legal advice about your situation and how the laws of your state apply to your case.

Dear parents! Keep your children safe

March 16, 2016

The top sources of child injury are, in descending order: traffic accidents in which children are involved as passengers, pedestrians and cyclists; fires and burns; water accidents; suffocation; poisoning; blockage of the airways; accidents from careless handling of weapons; falling children from a height.

Most of the incidents that are commonly referred to as accidents are injuries that could have been avoided. Even when accidents cannot be prevented, the resulting injuries can still be avoided. These simple measures can prevent most tragedies.

Make the environment safe for the child. To identify and prevent any hazard, it is essential to become familiar with your surroundings. To prevent injury, remove all dangerous objects that a child can reach. Start teaching your child about safe behavior, change dangerous environments that can lead to injury: coffee tables with sharp corners, stairs without railings, furniture and beds that are directly adjacent to open windows.

Take special care during stressful situations. Try to always remember where you left the scissors, razor, hedge trimmer, and any other sharp object that you used before you were distracted from the work you were doing.

Keep an eye on your child . The second principle of injury prevention is constant supervision of the child. Even in a safe environment, children, especially young children, need constant supervision. Children who begin to walk are at particular risk and need adult protection.

Burns. Doctors report that coffee burns are common. Never drink hot coffee or tea with a small child in your arms. Make sure that cups of hot coffee are not placed on the edge of the table where the baby can reach them.

Do not use tablecloths or napkins that can be pulled off the table by a small child.

Never heat a baby bottle in the microwave. The milk may be very hot and the sides of the bottle cold to the touch.

Always turn kettle handles towards the back of the stove. Rear burners should be preferred.

Keep matches out of the reach of children. Around the age of four, many children cannot resist the temptation to play with matches.

Open heaters, stoves, fireplaces, unenclosed dryers, and easily opened braziers are a particular hazard. Install grills or barriers around stoves, fireplaces, and heaters. Talk to young children about fire and warn them not to touch hot objects.

Be careful that curtains, bedspreads and towels do not come into contact with heaters as this may cause a fire.

Replace worn electrical wires. Carefully insulate wire connections and extension cords.

Insert plugs into all socket outlets to prevent children from being electrocuted by inserting anything into socket openings.

Talk to your children about fire safety and give them the necessary instructions.

Water deaths and safety measures

More than 1,000 children under the age of fourteen drown every year. Death on the water in terms of the number of deaths ranks second in this age group. For every child who drowns, four are rescued and taken to hospital. Children under the age of four are two or three times more likely to drown than children in other age groups.

The main cause of death in preschool children is bathing. Do not leave 20-liter water containers in the yard, as they can fill with rainwater and the child may drown if he falls into it. Close the toilet with a lid. The child may fall face down into the toilet or into a bucket of water and choke.

Water safety.

1. Never leave a child under five alone in the bath. A child can drown even in a small amount of water. Do not leave it in the bathroom and under the supervision of another child under the age of twelve. If you need to answer the phone or go to the front door, wrap your child in a towel and take them with you in the stroller.

2.Children should learn to swim, but don't assume they have already received water safety guarantees even if they have taken swimming lessons. Don't rely on pool alarms: they will only go off when the child falls into the water, help often arrives too late.

3. Keep an eye on your child when he is near water. The best rule of thumb is: PPE should be worn on a child at a beach, lake, boat, near a shallow body of water or a pool until the children are able to swim four hundred meters. When your child is a real swimmer by the age of ten or twelve, in order to avoid danger on the water, he can swim without supervision for as long as he always swims with his buddies. Do not allow him to jump into the water if the depth of the reservoir is less than one and a half meters, and also in the absence of an adult.

4.Stay away from frozen bodies of water and lakes until the ice is deemed safe for skating.
5. Keep children away from ponds and other bodies of water during thunderstorms.
6.Do not allow children to sled near the water.
7. Springs and water reservoirs must have a strong fence.
8. When it comes to water, adult supervision is essential. Water collectors in backyards should be drained and turned over to avoid accidents with young children. Remember: if the child went under water, you should immediately carry out a set of resuscitation measures - artificial respiration and closed heart massage.

Toxic substances

Keep all medicines safely in a safe place out of the reach of the child immediately after use. Label all medicines in bold, legible print to prevent misuse. Throw away all medicines immediately after recovery. Write down the phone number of the nearest poison control center. The house should have a bottle of vomit syrup on hand for each child. But you should only give vomit syrup to a child if you have been instructed to use it by your pediatrician, nurse, or poison control center. The dose of syrup varies depending on the weight of the child.

More than a third of drug poisonings are caused by children taking drugs prescribed to their grandparents. Make sure all their medicines are locked up or out of the reach of children.

All medicines dispensed by a pharmacist must be in a container that cannot be opened by a child. Do not transfer the drug from one package to another. Never put any substance from the package it was sold in into a package that contained something else. In other words, do not pour plant spray liquid into a soft plastic drink bottle or mug. This is often the cause of serious poisoning.

Keep poisonous substances away from children. The list of substances that most often cause dangerous poisoning in children includes: aspirin and other drugs, poisons for insects and mice, kerosene, gasoline, gasoline, cleaning products, polishing furniture or lighting a fire, all kinds of alkalis for cleaning sewer pipes , toilet bowls, stoves, wintergreen oil and solutions for spraying plants.

Potentially hazardous substances can also be found in the bathroom: perfumes, shampoos, hair strengthening liquids, nail and facial skin care products.

Find inaccessible places in the kitchen and pantry to store cleaning liquids and powders, detergents, drain cleaners, toilets and ovens, ammonia, bleach, stain removers, metal polish, borax, mothballs, liquid for lighters, shoe polish and other dangerous substances.

In your basement or garage, find safe storage areas for turpentine, paint thinners, kerosene, gasoline, gasoline, plant sprays, weed control, antifreeze, and car cleaners and polishes. Before discarding containers, make sure they are completely empty and rinse them. Potentially hazardous household cleaning products and medicines in the bathroom and kitchen should be kept out of the reach of children or in cabinets with locks and latches that they cannot open. Hooks and latches can be installed on bathroom doors to keep children safe from dangers ranging from poisoning to scalding.

Falls

Falls are the sixth leading cause of fatal injuries and also the leading cause of all accidents. Every year, many children under the age of six are involved in accidents due to falls from windows.

Falls from windows are most common during the spring and summer months in urban areas.

1. Most falls occur when parents leave children unattended. Do not leave small children alone .

2. Move all furniture away from the windows so that the child cannot climb onto the sill.

3. NEVER count on mosquito nets! They are not designed for fall protection! On the contrary, the mosquito net contributes to the tragedy, because the child feels safe behind it and leans both on the window and on it. Very often, children fall out with these nets.

4. If possible, open windows from the top instead of the bottom.

5. Place special locks on windows to prevent a child from opening the window more than a few inches.