Child Endangerment
Child Endangerment laws make it a crime to endanger the health or life of a child through an adult's recklessness or indifference. California Penal Code 273(a) punishes acts of child endangerment. Simply put, this crime occurs when an individual either (1) places a child in a dangerous situation, or (2) allows a child to be placed in a dangerous situation without taking steps to protect the child.
Common examples of child endangerment include:
- Leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle
- Driving while intoxicated with a child in the motor vehicle
- Hiring a person with a known history of sexual offenses as a childcare provider
- Serving alcohol to an underage driver
- Leaving a young child unsupervised or in the care of another young child
- Unreasonable corporal punishment resulting in bodily injury
- Drug manufacturing in the presence of a child
- Leaving a young child unsupervised in an unsafe area
- Failure to report suspected child abuse
If convicted of felony child endangerment, your sentence may include any or all of the following:
- a minimum of four years on formal probation,
- two, four, or six years in the California state prison,
- a maximum $10,000 fine,
- all of the terms and conditions outlined above under the "misdemeanor penalties" section (except for the portion of the potential sentence that dealt with the fine and jail time),
- an additional and consecutive three to six years in prison if you inflict great bodily injury or harm on the alleged victim, and (under these same circumstances),
- a possible "strike" on your record under California’s Three Strike’s Law.
- Los Angeles County
- Orange County
- Riverside County
- San Bernadino County
- San Diego County
- Ventura County
Office Locations
Main Office:
Law Offices of David S. Chesley, Inc.
A Professional Law Corporation
4533 Van Nuys Boulevard, Second Floor
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Additional offices in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.
