Endangering Welfare of Children 2C: 24-4
New Jersey defines endangering the welfare of children as a sexual or nonsexual act that causes a child to be abused or neglected. According to New Jersey Statute 2C, Section 24-4, a child is an individual under the age of 16. Sexual acts covers conduct that involves a child. The conduct may be engaged in by a person who has a legal duty to care for a child, assumes responsibility for the care of a child, or causes harm to a child.
A sexual act that endangers a child is a crime of the second degree. The maximum penalty for a crime of the second degree is 5 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $150,000. If the person who engages in the sexual act is a parent, guardian, or other person who is legally charged with the care or custody of the child, the person who perpetrated the act will be charged with a crime of the first degree. The maximum penalty for a crime of the first degree is 10-20 years in prison and a fine up to $200,000. A nonsexual act that causes a child to be abused or harmed is a crime of the third degree. The maximum penalty for a crime of the third degree is 3-5 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000.
Knowingly possessing or viewing any reproduction of a child engaging in a prohibited sexual act, or a simulation of such an act, is a crime of the fourth degree. The maximum penalty for a crime of the fourth degree is 18 months in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
Prohibited sexual acts that may cause a child to be abused include sexual intercourse, masturbation, bestiality, sadism, and nudity. The nudity must be depicted for the purpose of sexually stimulating the viewer.
Causing or permitting a child to engage in a prohibited sexual act, or a simulation of the same, is a criminal offense. It is also an offense to reproduce such an act, using mediums such as software programs or photography. Knowingly transferring material that depicts a child engaged in a prohibited sexual act to another person is a criminal offense. Recently, individuals have increasingly turned to the Internet as a method to transmit sexual materials that involve children. Using the Internet to transmit material does not exempt a person from a penalty.
Endangerment to child welfare is a strict liability crime. It is not a defense to the crime if the person engaged in a wrongful act did not know the age of the child, or believed that the child was over the age of 16. Nonsexual acts that can cause a child to be abused or harmed vary from leaving a child alone in a running, locked vehicle to hitting a child, with the hand or an instrument such as a frying pan. In January 2011, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that slapping a teenager did not constitute child abuse or neglect.
