Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Child neglect and child abuse cases arise frequently in the criminal law context. There may be many reasons for this, one of which is certainly the fact that supervising a child is a full-time job and that it is difficult to devote your attention to another person twenty-four hours per day. While this may be an intimidating responsibility for some people, Tennessee law expects every guardian of a child to supervise that child and not allow them to be put in danger. Failure to do this can result in criminal sanctions.

Tennessee law provides that “[a] parent or custodian of a child eight (8) years of age or younger commits child endangerment who knowingly exposes the child to or knowingly fails to protect the child from abuse or neglect resulting in physical injury to the child.” As you can see, this statute is worded very broadly and can apply not only where a child is neglected for long periods of time, but also where a child is not supervised properly at any time and gets injured as a result.

A good example of how even a brief lapse in supervision can lead to criminal charges comes from the story of a twelve year-old Florida boy who was recently caught driving his mother’s truck by police. He had apparently been driving for a couple of hours before he was spotted by law enforcement officials. The boy also told police that he had driven to a nearby city to pick up his sister, took her to get a candy bar, and then took her back home. Miraculously, he was able to do all of this without wrecking the vehicle and injuring himself, his passenger, or anyone else.

In Tennessee, the boy’s guardian could be charged under the above-cited child neglect statute. Violation of this statute is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail. However, a person can only be charged under this statute if the person “knowingly” exposes the child to, or fails to protect the child from, danger. “Knowingly” for purposes of this statute is defined as where “[…] the person knew, or should have known upon a reasonable inquiry, that abuse to or neglect of the child would occur that would result in physical injury to the child. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary parent or legal custodian of a child eight (8) years of age or younger would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the defendant's standpoint.”

A Class A misdemeanor can result in serious jail time. Tennesseans who have been charged with child neglect or child endangerment should contact an experienced criminal defense attorney who can assist them in contesting that the offense was committed knowingly or in asserting any other defense that a defendant may have to the charges