Bill Text: NY S07045 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a class D felony offense for endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree in certain aggravated circumstances.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-06-11 - referred to codes [S07045 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-S07045-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 7045 I N S E N A T E April 21, 2014 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to endangering the welfare of a child in the first and second degrees THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Section 260.10 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 447 2 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 3 S 260.10 Endangering the welfare of a child IN THE SECOND DEGREE. 4 A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child IN THE SECOND 5 DEGREE when: 6 1. He or she knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the 7 physical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than seventeen years 8 old or directs or authorizes such child to engage in an occupation 9 involving a substantial risk of danger to his or her life or health; or 10 2. Being a parent, guardian or other person legally charged with the 11 care or custody of a child less than eighteen years old, he or she fails 12 or refuses to exercise reasonable diligence in the control of such child 13 to prevent him or her from becoming an "abused child," a "neglected 14 child," a "juvenile delinquent" or a "person in need of supervision," as 15 those terms are defined in articles ten, three and seven of the family 16 court act. 17 3. A person is not guilty of the provisions of this section when he or 18 she engages in the conduct described in subdivision one of section 19 260.00 of this article: (a) with the intent to wholly abandon the child 20 by relinquishing responsibility for and right to the care and custody of 21 such child; (b) with the intent that the child be safe from physical 22 injury and cared for in an appropriate manner; (c) the child is left 23 with an appropriate person, or in a suitable location and the person who 24 leaves the child promptly notifies an appropriate person of the child's 25 location; and (d) the child is not more than thirty days old. 26 Endangering the welfare of a child IN THE SECOND DEGREE is a class A 27 misdemeanor. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14800-01-4 S. 7045 2 1 S 2. Section 260.11 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 89 of the 2 laws of 1984, is renumbered section 260.12 and amended to read as 3 follows: 4 S 260.12 Endangering the welfare of a child; corroboration. 5 A person shall not be convicted of endangering the welfare of a child 6 AS DEFINED IN SECTION 260.10 OR 260.11 OF THIS ARTICLE, or of an attempt 7 to commit the same, upon the testimony of a victim who is incapable of 8 consent because of mental defect or mental incapacity as to conduct that 9 constitutes an offense or an attempt to commit an offense referred to in 10 section 130.16, without additional evidence sufficient pursuant to 11 section 130.16 to sustain a conviction of an offense referred to in 12 section 130.16, or of an attempt to commit the same. 13 S 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 260.11 to read 14 as follows: 15 S 260.11 ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE. 16 A PERSON IS GUILTY OF ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST 17 DEGREE WHEN: 18 1. HE OR SHE KNOWINGLY ACTS IN A MANNER WHICH CREATES A RISK OF EITHER 19 SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY OR PROLONGED IMPAIRMENT OF THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL 20 OR MORAL WELFARE CONDITION OF A CHILD LESS THAN SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD; OR 21 2. HE OR SHE RECKLESSLY ACTS IN A MANNER WHICH CREATES A RISK OF 22 EITHER SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY OR PROLONGED IMPAIRMENT OF THE PHYSICAL, 23 MENTAL OR MORAL WELFARE CONDITION OF A CHILD LESS THAN SEVENTEEN YEARS 24 OLD; OR 25 3. HE OR SHE COMMITS THE CRIME OF ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD 26 IN THE SECOND DEGREE WHEN: 27 (A) THE CHILD SUFFERED PHYSICAL INJURY; OR 28 (B) HE OR SHE HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONVICTED OF ENDANGERING THE WELFARE 29 OF A CHILD IN THE SECOND DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 260.10 OF THIS 30 ARTICLE OR ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE AS 31 DEFINED IN THIS SECTION. 32 ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE IS A CLASS D 33 FELONY. 34 S 4. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the penal law, 35 as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as 36 follows: 37 (c) Class D violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the 38 class C felonies set forth in paragraph (b); reckless assault of a child 39 as defined in section 120.02, assault in the second degree as defined in 40 section 120.05, menacing a police officer or peace officer as defined in 41 section 120.18, stalking in the first degree, as defined in subdivision 42 one of section 120.60, strangulation in the second degree as defined in 43 section 121.12, rape in the second degree as defined in section 130.30, 44 criminal sexual act in the second degree as defined in section 130.45, 45 sexual abuse in the first degree as defined in section 130.65, course of 46 sexual conduct against a child in the second degree as defined in 47 section 130.80, aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree as defined 48 in section 130.66, facilitating a sex offense with a controlled 49 substance as defined in section 130.90, ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A 50 CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 260.11, criminal 51 possession of a weapon in the third degree as defined in subdivision 52 five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten of section 265.02, criminal sale of 53 a firearm in the third degree as defined in section 265.11, intimidating 54 a victim or witness in the second degree as defined in section 215.16, 55 soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism in the second 56 degree as defined in section 490.10, and making a terroristic threat as S. 7045 3 1 defined in section 490.20, falsely reporting an incident in the first 2 degree as defined in section 240.60, placing a false bomb or hazardous 3 substance in the first degree as defined in section 240.62, placing a 4 false bomb or hazardous substance in a sports stadium or arena, mass 5 transportation facility or enclosed shopping mall as defined in section 6 240.63, and aggravated unpermitted use of indoor pyrotechnics in the 7 first degree as defined in section 405.18. 8 S 5. Section 260.15 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 447 of the 9 laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 10 S 260.15 Endangering the welfare of a child; defense. 11 In any prosecution for endangering the welfare of a child, pursuant to 12 section 260.10 OR 260.11 of this article, based upon an alleged failure 13 or refusal to provide proper medical care or treatment to an ill child, 14 it is an affirmative defense that the defendant (a) is a parent, guardi- 15 an or other person legally charged with the care or custody of such 16 child; and (b) is a member or adherent of an organized church or reli- 17 gious group the tenets of which prescribe prayer as the principal treat- 18 ment for illness; and (c) treated or caused such ill child to be treated 19 in accordance with such tenets. 20 S 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 21 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.