Child Abuse
Child Abuse
Child Abuse is often one of the most emotion laden charges because an otherwise good parent may be charged with child abuse. One example of child abuse is when a child is in the back seat while your are driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants.
One concern for any parent charged with Child Abuse is the likelihood that the New Mexico Department of Children and Family Services will file an Abuse and Neglect Petition with the District Court, and seek to take temporary custody of the children until the parent is deemed fit for the children to return.
Each count of child abuse carries up to three years in prison. More than one count may be filed if more than one child was involved in the criminal misconduct, or if the child suffered abuse on several distinct occasions.
One of the most difficult types of criminal cases is Child Abuse resulting in Great Bodily Harm or Death. Often we see cases in which the child suffered from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or Shaken Baby Syndrome where brain damage suggested earlier abuse. These are so difficult when there are no adult eyewitnesses to any alleged abuse and when there are other medical explanations besides child abuse.
The crime of Child Abuse can be committed in one of three ways:
- Intentional infliction of physical or mental injury upon a child;
- An intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child; or
- Active encouragement of any person to commit an act that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, physical or mental injury to a child.
A child is defined as any person under the age of 18.
Importantly, there is no requirement that the child abuse must be committed by a person in a parental or custodial relationship to the victim, thus what might constitute a misdemeanor battery if the victim was an adult, can instead be charged as felony Child Abuse
Client Review in Child Abuse case:
My children were placed in state custody due to allegations that were simply untrue we have been fighting this case for six months however I know the outcome will be positive on our end. Steve is very knowledgeable on every case he takes on. He isn’t just a lawyer but also a friend who will believe in you and stick by you until the end. He is also very well liked and respected throughout the courthouse . I once had the lawyer on the opposing side tell me he respected Steve because he was the only lawyer he knew with any common sense, that has stuck in my head for awhile because its the truth. I would definitely recommend Steve to anyone in need of a lawyer!
Click to see Review as originally posted on avvo.com
