Every parent is responsible for protecting and providing a safe environment for their child. They should provide their children basic needs like food, clothes, shelter, and medicine. Unfortunately, many abandon these responsibilities purposely or without any legitimate excuse, exposing children to abuse or neglect. When you fail to care for your children without a justifiable reason, you risk charges under California PEN 270 for child neglect. Discussed further is this violation to help you know what to expect when you face the charges.
Child Neglect Legal Definition
As a parent or legal guardian, the law gives you the latitude or authority in how you will raise your children. However, when you fail to offer your children necessities like food, shelter, and clothing, you risk child neglect accusations.
Per PEN 270, child neglect is the behavioral pattern where you, a child’s parent, deliberately fail devoid of any legal reasons to provide your child with basic life necessities like shelter, medicine, food, and clothing.
California statutes categorize child neglect into:
1. Physical Neglect
Denying your child necessities that cover their physical needs, like clothing, food, and shelter, is physical neglect. It is the most prevalent form of neglect and entails neglecting your handling of a child’s physical wellness.
2. Medical Neglect
When your child falls sick, they are entitled to quality healthcare by a certified professional. When you ignore your child’s medical needs after they have complained of particular symptoms for a long time or administer treatment that makes their condition worse, you risk arrest and subsequent charges for medical neglect.
Nonetheless, you will not face PEN 270 violation charges when, instead of taking your sick child to the hospital, you call a priest or preacher to pray for them. The law has an exception to religious beliefs. However, the prayers must be conducted as per the practices or doctrines of the church or denomination. The preacher or priest must also be accredited.
3. Educational Neglect
You are responsible for enrolling your child in school when they are required to join. When you intentionally fail to enroll your child in school or refuse to intervene with their enrollment or attendance, you commit educational neglect and risk criminal charges.
4. Emotional Neglect
On top of providing for your child’s physical, educational, and medical needs, you should be emotionally available. Emotional support is essential to the child because it boosts their confidence and deters drug abuse.
You engage in emotional neglect when:
- You isolate your child by prohibiting them from interacting with others
- You threaten severe punishment
- You humiliate the child
- You deny the child affection
- You deny the child psychological care
Child Neglect Elements
For you to be criminally liable for a PEN 270 violation, the prosecutor demonstrates that:
- You are the child’s parent
- You neglected to provide for the child’s necessities
- Your failure to offer care was willful or lacked legitimate reasons
Under PEN 270, necessities include remedial care, shelter, food, medical care, and clothing.
Willfully means you were acting intentionally or purposely by denying your children basic needs. The matters that raise contestation or concerns are the definitions of a parent and child and lawful or legitimate excuses.
Parent or Child Meaning
The definition of a parent seems straightforward, but in a child neglect case, it is complex. The law deems you a parent if you are a married husband and live together with the mother of your child. If you are cohabiting, the law assumes paternity unless you are sterile or infertile. If you approve of the baby's conception through artificial insemination, the law deems you the parent, even if you are not the biological father.
In some cases, your wife can have sex with another person, leading to the birth of a child. Because you are not the child’s biological father, the law requires you to institute a paternity case within twenty-four months of the birth so that the court rules out you are the father. If you fail to file a paternity case, the court will assume you are the father.
Similarly, the court considers you a parent if you are divorced from the other parent of your child. You remain a parent even if you have no custody of the child, saw the child during birth, or have never seen them.
For instance, you and your spouse separated when your child was four years old, and the court gave full custody to the other spouse. When you neglect the child’s necessities under these circumstances, you will face child neglect charges because divorce is not a legitimate excuse not to provide care. Nonetheless, if you gave the child up for adoption, you cannot face PEN 270 violation charges for refusal to offer care.
Additionally, the law assumes you are a parent if you have a child with someone you are not married to or in a romantic relationship with. The other parent, usually the mother, needs to demonstrate that you had a sexual relationship, even if once, that led to the conception of a baby.
Lastly, when you adopt a child through lawful means, you assume the parental responsibilities of a child. Neglecting the child’s needs, even if you are not a biological parent, could attract child neglect charges.
The fact that you can face a PEN 270 violation count even when you have little or limited access to the child means someone can wrongfully accuse you of the offense, leading to a wrongful conviction. For instance, a woman you had a one-night stand with that led to a conception can accuse you of neglecting to offer care even when you did not know of the child’s existence.
For purposes of PEN 270, a child is any individual younger than 18, and it includes an unborn child.
Lawful or Legitimate Excuse
PEN 270 expects you as a parent to do everything reasonable to offer care or provide necessities to your child. You can only fail to provide if you have a legitimate reason or excuse. It could be that you do not earn a living or have assets to pay for the minor’s necessities. Also, it could be that your earnings are insufficient to provide all the basic needs. However, the court will consider your reasons for failure to provide as illegitimate if you earn an income but spend the money on pleasures or have refused to actively seek employment.
It is worth understanding that the law presumes you have no legitimate reason to neglect a child’s necessities. Therefore, it is up to you and your criminal lawyer to prove otherwise.
The Court Process Child Neglect Cases Follow
A PEN 270 violation case starts with filing a report with local law enforcement or Child Protective Services. After the report is filed, CPS or the police conduct further investigations to corroborate the accusations. Typically, doctors and teachers report these cases, as the law mandates them to do so when they identify neglect or abuse signs.
During the investigation, CPS’s social workers focus on establishing:
- Whether the neglect took place
- The reasons or excuses for the neglect
- The child’s situation after the neglect
- Whether improving the circumstances in the child’s home would be sustainable
- The action that should be taken to promote the child’s safety
CPS will hold your child for three days while they conduct investigations. This happens if these workers believe the child will be unsafe at home. The child spends three days with a relative or an approved foster home. CPS will notify you, the parent, immediately if they decide to hold the child.
When you learn of an investigation by CPS for child neglect, contact your criminal attorney immediately for legal guidance. Your lawyer will be present during interviews by social workers to ensure you do not make self-incriminating statements that could be used against you as an admission of guilt.
If, after investigations, the social workers determine that your child is not in an immediate threat of harm, they will allow you to continue with the current living arrangement until you are arraigned in court.
CPS must file a formal report with the local juvenile designated court within three days. These special courts solely handle cases about child safety and wellbeing. You will appear before the court for a bail hearing or arraignment. During arraignment, the court will read your charges, and you will enter a plea. You can deny the charge, plead guilty, or no contest.
The hearing happens in the presence of the DA, a CPS representative, the judge, the child’s parents, and their legal representatives. If the court releases you and allows you to keep custody of the child, a CPS worker will make random visits to your home to check on the minor and ensure they are safe. The case will be dismissed when the evidence against you cannot substantiate the charges.
Nonetheless, when the court determines that you have a case to answer, they will schedule a “No Time Waiver Trial.” The proceeding’s date depends on whether your child is detained or in custody. In detention instances where the child is in a relative’s custody or foster care, the court schedules the hearing within fifteen days. However, the hearing will occur in thirty days if the minor is in your custody.
Before the trial, the case goes through a pre-trial resolution conference to resolve the case before trial. A neutral party oversees the conference.
If the opposing parties reach no settlement, the case proceeds to the jurisdiction proceeding, where the court hears and determines the CPS petition. When found guilty of the allegations, the case will move to a disposition hearing, where they issue your sentence. At this hearing, the court will tell you the measures or actions you must take to address the problem. You could be required to undergo counseling and drug or alcohol treatment.
Possible Child Neglect Legal Penalties
Child neglect is typically a misdemeanor whose guilty verdict attracts no more than twelve months in county jail and monetary court fines of at most $2,000. The court can also impose summary probation, allowing you to serve part of the sentence at most six months, after which you are released under strict conditions. Sometimes, the probationary period can last up to twelve months, but if you violate the probationary terms, the court will revoke the program and impose the initial penalties.
In unique circumstances, the prosecutor can file child neglect as a felony. You attract felony charges when the court determines that you are a child’s biological parent in a paternity case and still fail to provide basic needs to the child. An excellent example is when, as a father, you file a paternity case, but in the court’s ruling, the suit establishes you are the father, but still, you neglect to provide for the child’s necessities.
A felony PEN 270 violation attracts no more than twelve months in jail or twelve months plus a day in state prison. The court could impose financial fines of no more than $2,000 and formal probation.
When the neglect involves a lawful guardian or parent with legal custody, a conviction can result in restriction of parental rights. The court can issue a restraining order or injunction requiring you to stay away from the child or place them in foster care.
Child neglect cases in family courts do not intend to punish you, the parent. The objective is to provide necessary services and assistance for the family in question to make adjustments to the initial circumstances that led to the child neglect accusations.
Other Consequences of a Conviction
A guilty verdict for a PEN 270 violation will affect your gun ownership rights if the offense is filed as a felony. A guilty verdict for a felony bars you from owning, possessing, or purchasing a firearm.
Similarly, a conviction could result in the removal of the neglected child from your custody. The CPS deems neglect as child abuse and, therefore, will take away your child once the court finds you guilty. However, before the removal, the agency will assist you in keeping the child safe and comfortable. However, if it is evident that even with assistance, the minor’s situation in the home remains the same, they can place the child in foster care.
You should know that child neglect is not a crime of moral turpitude and, therefore, will not affect your immigration status if you are an alien.
Child Neglect Expunction
If the court finds you innocent of child neglect allegations, you can expunge the record. Additionally, when the child is under 18, and the accusations are unsubstantiated, you can expunge the records after ten years if you have not been accused of another crime in the same period. You are eligible for an expunction when you complete probation or jail term. The advantage of expunging the record is that it removes all the disabilities stemming from a conviction.
Legal Defenses
Several legal defenses are available that you can assert to avoid a guilty verdict for child neglect. They include:
1. Legitimate Lack of Financial Means to Provide for the Child
You are not criminally liable for child neglect when you genuinely lack the financial means to care for the minor. Therefore, you are not guilty when your case is based on the fact that you lack the finances to provide necessities like regular meals, shelter, and necessary clothing based on the weather. Your lawyer must demonstrate that you lack the financial means. When they successfully do so, CPS or other relevant government agencies will provide housing or financial assistance to help change the child’s situation.
The goal of your attorney should be to show that the neglect is not willful or intentional. When they do this, the court will find you innocent.
2. Religious Beliefs
The court will not convict you if the reasons for the neglect are religious beliefs. All you must show is that you followed the practices recognized by your church. Also, when the accusations are for medical neglect, you can claim that you took the child to a traditional doctor because taking them to the hospital would be against your religious beliefs.
3. False Allegations
Many child neglect allegations are based on falsehood, especially in cases where a parent wants to gain an advantage over the other in a divorce proceeding or is seeking revenge. If you are falsely blamed, you must present the court with proof that the accusations are untrue. You can use medical reports to prove that medical neglect accusations are false. A statement from the teacher or friends can also help uncover the truth. Financial reports can also help indicate that you provide care for your child.
4. The Alleged Victim of Neglect is Not a Minor
PC 270 only applies to persons under 18. Therefore, you can contest the charges by claiming that the alleged victim is not a child, as they are above 18. The law does not impose the obligation of a parent to provide for a person over 18.
Related Offenses
Several offenses can be charged with or in place of child neglect. They include:
- Failure by a parent to offer adequate supervision to ensure a child attends school
- Child abuse
- Child endangerment
Find a Competent Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me
A child’s welfare and safety are paramount to the state. So, an accusation of child neglect is taken seriously by authorities and attracts severe penalties upon conviction. Collateral consequences like broken relationships can have life-changing repercussions for the child and parent. Considering these consequences, having an experienced criminal lawyer in your corner is advisable when you face the charges. At the Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer, we can defend you for a fair outcome. Contact us at 310-502-1314 for a case evaluation.
