Harboring or Hiding a Runaway Child
Some criminal offenses in Tennessee punish individuals for actions they intentionally perform, while others punish them for actions that they neglect to perform. Tennessee's codification of the offense of harboring or hiding a runaway child, T.C.A. 39-15-414, does both.
The aforementioned statute makes criminal three different types of conduct:
(a) A person commits an offense who, with knowledge that a child is a runaway, as defined in ยง 37-1-102(25)(A)(iv), harbors or hides the child and:(1) Fails to notify the child's legal custodian, legal guardian, or law enforcement authorities of the whereabouts of the child within a reasonable amount of time; provided that no length of time in excess of twenty-four (24) hours shall be considered reasonable;
(2) Conceals the whereabouts of the child; or
(3) Aides the child in escaping from the custody of the child's legal custodian, legal guardian or law enforcement authorities.
The first subsection of this statute places a legal duty on individuals to notify the guardians of a runaway child of that child's location within no more than twenty-four hours. Given the language of the statute in that it requires such notification to be within a "reasonable time," it is entirely possible that individuals could be prosecuted for failure to make such a report within a shorter amount of time depending on the circumstances.
The second subsection is very straightforward, making it an offense to conceal the whereabouts of a child. While some individuals often have good reasons for hiding children, such as helping them to escape an abusive parent or avoid some other type of misfortune, the statute does not explicitly make it a defense that a person is hiding a child for good reason.
The third subsection makes it a crime for helping a child escape from a parent, legal guardian, or law enforcement. This charge could be accompanied by other charges if the individual is helping a child to evade arrest or assisting the child in getting away with a crime.
Engaging in any of these three types of activity is a Class A misdemeanor in Tennessee, punishable by up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail. If you or someone you know has been charged with this or any other offense, contact an experienced East Tennessee criminal defense attorney for assistance with your case.
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