Child abuse is one of the most severe, life-altering offenses an individual can be accused of. This crime is prosecuted as a serious offense, thus subjecting a defendant to strict penalties and lengthy guidelines under comprehensive statutes. However, whereas the law protects vulnerable minors, it also should protect the parents, caregivers, guardians, and those who work around and with minors, frequently falsely accused of child abuse.

Mostly, child abuse accusations arise from false allegations or misunderstandings. The penalties for a conviction can be harsh. If found guilty, you can face hefty fines, a prison sentence, and you will have a criminal record that would make finding a job difficult. Allegations of child abuse may also severely damage the relationship you have with your loved ones. Thus, if you’ve been charged, you need to fight to prove your innocence. The best way to do this is by seeking legal representation and advice from a skilled child abuse defense lawyer.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group in Sacramento, we’ll advise you on what your legal options and rights are. Our lawyers have several years of experience and expertise defending the legal rights of those facing child abuse charges in Sacramento, and we will work untiringly to develop a solid defense strategy on your behalf.

What’s the Legal Meaning of Child Abuse?

PC 273d is the law that describes child abuse crime. Per this law, you commit child abuse when you willfully inflict either of these on a child below the age of eighteen years old:

  • Any inhuman/cruel corporal punishment, or
  • Any injury that causes a traumatic condition.

Corporal punishment merely means physical/bodily injury, contrary to emotional suffering. On the other hand, a traumatic condition refers to a wound or any other physical injury, be it severe or minor, inflicted by the direct use of force. And, you willfully inflict an injury if you do the act that causes the harm on purpose. You need not have intended to violate this law or hurt the minor.

Acts often considered child abuse include, among others, burning, choking, shaking, pushing, kicking, slapping, punching, hitting, throwing a minor, or throwing stuff at a minor. Essentially, any deed that hurts a child is deemed abuse if it’s inhuman/cruel or results in a traumatic condition.

The term inhuman/cruel isn’t particularly defined under this law. However, the jury usually gives these words their usual meaning, which gives it significant power to decide whether an action that doesn’t inflict injury or harm is abusive.

Spanking Isn’t Classified as Minor Abuse

In the State of California, spanking isn’t categorized as an act of child abuse as long as it’s for disciplinary reasons and isn’t excessive given the circumstances.  This exception applies to spanking using an object (paddle or belt) and spanking using just a bare hand. But it’s worth noting that inflicting corporal injury upon a minor is a controversial subject. What’s deemed correct and acceptable by the current standards may change with time. And the jury could establish that spanking, be it by using an object or bare hand, was excessive under the circumstances.

What the Prosecutor Must Prove

For you to be convicted of PC 273d violation, the prosecution has to demonstrate various facts beyond any reasonable doubt. They are:

  • You willfully inflicted inhuman/cruel physical injury or punishment on a child.
  • The injury/punishment you inflicted resulted in a traumatic condition.
  • When you acted, you weren’t reasonably disciplining the child.

Note that the prosecutor can use your prior child abuse acts against you in court. These acts remain admissible regardless of whether they led to a conviction or not, an exception to the state’s general rule of evidence. California’s general rule of evidence provides that past convictions can’t be introduced when convicting someone of an offense. That kind of proof is usually deemed overly prejudicial. However, in child abuse cases, the prosecution may present prior convictions to prove that the accused tends to be violent. The brighter side of all this is the judge has first to schedule a hearing in which they will decide whether the value of previous child abuse acts outweighs the possibility of prejudice. When making this decision, the judge considers:

  • Whether the supposed proof will unduly bias the jury.
  • The period that has passed between those past acts and your current charges.
  • Whether there’s any corroborating proof for the prior allegations.

Generally, the DA might not introduce this kind of proof if the supposed act or acts took place over ten years ago. Here, the proof will only become admissible if the court rules that it’s in the interests of justice.

Also, in particular cases, the DA may introduce proof of past domestic violence acts to help demonstrate child abuse allegations. They may do this only if the following is true:

  • The present charges are for abuse upon your child, a child who regularly resides with you, or a child who lived with you regularly, and
  • The accusations were for deeds within the past five years and had to do with a spouse, live-in boyfriend/girlfriend, your child’s parent, or someone you were seriously dating.

As with proof of prior child abuse acts, the judge must schedule a hearing to establish if proof of past domestic violence is admissible. Here, the judge considers whether the evidence is unduly prejudicial or generally shows a tendency toward violence.

Legal Defenses against Child Abuse Charges

Legal defenses against child abuse charges usually include prevalent defenses like police misconduct and mistaken identification. However, defenses to these charges can also involve arguing the following:

The Injury Was Accidental

For you to be found guilty of child abuse, you must’ve acted willfully. By this, it means that your lawyer can help you argue the accident defense in an attempt to have your charges dismissed. Injuries that result accidentally shouldn’t lead to a child abuse conviction. However, there’s an exception to this defense, and that is where the accused was unreasonably aggressive or behaved recklessly. Examples of injuries that result accidentally include:

  • Unintentionally hitting a child too hard when helping them practice Kung.
  • Swinging a child by their arm to make them laugh and unintentionally pulling the arm out of its socket.
  • Slamming a door of an auto without noticing that a minor’s finger is in the door jam.
  • Swinging a baseball bat without knowing a minor is nearby.

However, being overly aggressive when otherwise playing with a child could lead to a justified child abuse conviction. Your attorney will present your account of events to the judge or jury to prove the injury was accidental.

You Were Legally Disciplining the Child

A parent is entitled to discipline their child through corporal punishment. They could even utilize an object, for instance, a paddle or belt, provided the discipline is reasonable given the circumstances and doesn’t cause any physical injury.

Unluckily, spankings can at times lead to child abuse charges. It could be that a mandated reporter saw swelling on a minor and overreacted. Alternatively, a jealous spouse may use spanking as a reason to file false accusations. Whatever the case, provided the jury establishes that your disciplining was reasonable given the circumstances, you shouldn’t be convicted.

The Injuries Resulted from Something Else that’s not Abuse.

A minor will sometimes sustain an injury due to something else that might not be apparent to a guardian or parent. It could be that the injuries were a result of bullying, and the minor is so scared to say. Or, the minor simply fought with another pupil at school or had a slight accident. This could result in any well-meaning individual reporting the child’s condition to the police. And in given cases, this kind of reporting may be necessary.

For example, per the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, most professionals are obligated to report any suspected minor abuse. These professionals are referred to as mandated reporters. They include clergy, school administrators, nurses, social workers, teachers, and doctors.

Any mandated reporter who doesn’t report suspected child abuse incidences or situations will face misdemeanor charges. They could even serve a jail term. Therefore, they’re under intense pressure to report even the slightest suspicions of minor abuse.

Your lawyer may have a forensic medical examiner or doctor independently assess the supposed injuries. The assessment may well indicate that you’ve been unjustly charged as the prosecution is relying on misleading proof.

The Victim’s Allegations are False

Unfortunately, false accusations aren’t uncommon in minor abuse cases. Sometimes these kinds of allegations are made out of domestic or family conflicts. Motives for wrongful or false accusations include jealousy, anger, the desire to take control, revenge, the desire to teach an ex or current romantic partner a lesson, or trying to have the upper hand in a custody dispute.

The Penalties for Child Abuse

A violation of PC 273d is a wobbler crime, meaning the DA has the power to prosecute the criminal offense either as a felony or misdemeanor based on the facts of the supposed crime, the accused’s criminal record, and probably evidence of past child or domestic abuse.

If you are a first-time offender of a minor offense, you will face misdemeanor charges. Felony child abuse charges are imposed when the child abuse act was specifically cruel, the child sustained severe injury, and the accused has one/several past child abuse convictions or convictions of related crimes.

If you are convicted of a misdemeanor child abuse offense, you will face up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $6,000. Alternatively, the judge may sentence you to summary probation instead of imposing a jail term. If convicted of a felony, you will face six, four, or two years in prison and a maximum fine of $6,000. Or, the judge may also sentence you to felony probation rather than a portion or all of your sentence.

Sentence Enhancement for Past Convictions

Your jail term will increase to four years if you have a prior conviction of child abuse unless:

  • You successfully served any prison sentence for every past conviction over ten years ago, and
  • Haven’t served a sentence for another felony in the preceding ten years.

Immigration Consequences

Child abuse is considered a crime involving moral turpitude, meaning the offense is considered morally wrong. Crimes involving moral turpitude adversely affect an individual’s immigration status upon conviction, including leading to deportation and inadmissibility. Therefore, if you are an immigrant and are found guilty of child abuse, you may be deported and labeled inadmissible to the United States.

Placement on the CACI

When you are charged with child abuse, the Department of Child Protection Services (CPS) will become involved in your case. CPS can file a petition with the juvenile dependency court to terminate your custodial rights and also seek to add your name on the CACI (Child Abuse Central Index). The CACI is a statewide database managed by the state’s DOJ (Department of Justice). It is used by law enforcement agencies and organizations that provide children’s services. The CACI helps in the investigation and prevention of child neglect and abuse. It also aids in protecting affected children from any further abuse. Agencies that use the CACI include child welfare organizations, foster homes, schools, adoption agencies, and certified child care centers and homes.

Information entered by the DOJ into the CACI database include:

  • The name and description of the suspect.
  • The name and description of the victim.
  • The agency that filed the child abuse report.
  • Information concerning the case.
  • The kind of abuse involved.

If your name appears on CACI, you have the legal right to file a petition requesting its removal. This petition is called a grievance hearing. Appearing on this list could bring lifelong stigma and humiliation. It can also seriously affect your future employment in jobs that involve minors, such as child care services or teaching. This is one reason you will want to hire a skilled defense lawyer to fight for you.

Probation Rather than Incarceration

Persons found guilty of PC 273d violation are often granted a probation sentence rather than incarceration. The judge may sentence you to probation irrespective of whether your crime is a felony or misdemeanor. However, if you are granted a probation sentence, you’ll have to comply with given terms, some of which are mandatory while others are optional. Prevalent minor abuse probation terms include:

  • If you were intoxicated with alcohol or drugs during the commission of the crime, random drug testing.
  • A mandatory minor abuser’s treatment and counseling program for one year.
  • The victim will be granted a protective order, including, if necessary, a stay away or residence exclusion order.
  • At least three years of a probation term.
  • Regularly reporting to the probation officer.
  • Restitution to the victim.

If you violate any probation condition, the judge may revoke your probation sentence. Then, they can issue a bench warrant for your arrest and impose the original jail/prison sentence. Alternatively, the judge may let your non-adherence slide or impose new (often harsher) probation terms.

If you adhere to all the probation conditions ordered, the judge may grant you an early probation termination. Usually, this needs showing one or two years of adherence. A request to terminate probation is often filed together with the petition to expunge a criminal conviction and the petition to lower your felony charges to misdemeanor charges.

Child Abuse and the Three Strikes Law

At times a felony minor abuse conviction is considered a strike per the state’s Three Strikes law. Often, this happens when the child suffers significant bodily injury due to the abuse. If you have one strike on your criminal record, it means you’ll be subject to a double sentence for all subsequent felony convictions. And after you have been found guilty of three strike offenses, you’ll serve a compulsory minimum prison sentence of twenty-five years to life.

Related Crimes to Child Abuse         

Particular crimes are often charged instead of or along with PC 273d violation. These offenses fall into the broader categories of assault & battery and domestic violence. They include:

Child Neglect – PC 270

PC 270 is the statute on failure to provide care. Violating this statute is commonly called child neglect. Child neglect comprises the willful failure to provide a minor with necessities. Necessities include stuff such as shelter, medical care, clothing, and food. Violating this law is a misdemeanor crime punishable by a maximum of $2,000 in fines and a one-year jail sentence. However, if you have a prior conviction of child neglect, the offense turns out to be a wobbler, where a felony conviction will subject you to a term of three or two years or sixteen months in prison.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence statute encompasses different acts of neglect or violence committed against the elderly, former or current romantic partners, or children. Commonly charged domestic violence offenses include PC 368 elder abuse, PC 243(e)(1) domestic battery, and PC 273.5 corporal injury to a cohabitant or spouse.  These offenses are generally wobblers. Therefore, the prosecutor could charge them either as felonies or misdemeanors.

Battery – PC 242

PC 242 criminalizes the willful application of violence/force upon someone else, regardless of how slight the force/violence is. The judge may find you guilty of battery rather than minor abuse if the physical force you inflicted on the victim didn’t reach the degree of inhuman/cruel punishment or cause a traumatic condition.

Consider this example: Sara and her son are at the doctor for a check-up. During the check-up, Sara’s son talks rudely to the doctor, and Sara slaps him. The doctor, being a mandated reporter, informs the police about the incident. The DA charges Sara with both battery and child abuse. The jury determines that Sara slapped (battered) her son, but the slapping didn’t cause any injury. Therefore, the judge convicts her of battery rather than child abuse.

Violating PC 242 is charged as a misdemeanor offense. Possible consequences include a period that doesn’t exceed six months in jail and a maximum fine of 2,000.

Child Endangerment – PC 273c

PC 273c penalizes deliberate harm caused to a minor. Confusingly, this offense is at times also called child abuse. But unlike PC 273d violation, child endangerment does not require bodily harm or injury for you to be charged or convicted. You can be prosecuted if you expose a child to a condition in which they or their health might be endangered. 

For instance, Eddy, a single father, knows his sister Elisa has a substance abuse history. Nevertheless, he leaves his son under Elisa’s care because he has to leave for work and has no other option. Elisa, under the influence, hits Eddy’s son, necessitating urgent medical care. The DA charges Elisa with child abuse. He also charges Eddy with PC 273c violation for placing her son in a situation where he was highly likely to sustain an injury.

Violating PC 273c is considered a wobbler offense and will face the same consequences as child abuse upon conviction.

Find a Knowledgeable Child Abuse Attorney Near Me

Prosecutors are highly aggressive as far as prosecuting crimes against minors is concerned. If you’re convicted, you could be subject to several years of incarceration, in addition to the requirement to pay substantial fines. If you are a daycare employee, teacher, guidance counselor, or work in any other profession that involves minors, a child abuse conviction could end the career you have worked hard to build. You could also lose custody of your child.

You risk losing your job, family, reputation, and freedom. However, expert legal representation and advice by a child abuse lawyer improves your chances of being found innocent, receiving a lenient sentence, or even having your charges dismissed. At California Criminal Lawyer Group in Sacramento, we have handled hundreds of cases involving teachers, parents, guardians, coaches, caregivers, and babysitters accused of child abuse. We understand what kinds of strategies to apply when defending against these complex cases. There are many possible defenses we can raise, including what we have already discussed.

To schedule a free, confidential consultation, call us at 916-775-7660. We represent fathers, mothers, grandparents, and anyone else who has been charged with child abuse in Sacramento and the surrounding cities.