Mississippi HB 1445: Contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a child and abuse of a child; revise penalties for.

Bill Text

HB1445 (As Introduced) - 2018 Regular Session 

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Judiciary B

By: Representative Clark

House Bill 1445

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 
TO REVISE THE PENALTIES FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE NEGLECT OR DELINQUENCY OF ANY 
CHILD, ABUSE OF A CHILD, AIDING IN THE ESCAPE OF A CHILD UNDER CERTAIN 
CIRCUMSTANCES OR AIDING IN THE HARBORING OR CONCEALING OF A CHILD UNDER CERTAIN 
CIRCUMSTANCES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

���� BE IT ENACTED BY THE 
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

���� SECTION 1.� Section 
97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

���� 97-5-39.� (1)� (a)� Except 
as otherwise provided in this section, any parent, guardian or other person who 
intentionally, knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance 
of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to contribute to the 
neglect or delinquency of any child or which act or omission results in the 
abuse of any child, as defined in Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, 
or who knowingly aids any child in escaping or absenting himself from the 
guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly 
harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child who has 
absented himself without permission from the guardianship or custody of any 
person, agency or institution to which the child shall have been committed by 
the youth court shall be guilty of a * * * crime, 
and, upon conviction, shall be punished * * * by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), 
or by imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment as follows: 

��������� ���� (i)� Upon a 
first conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not 
more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or punished by imprisonment not to 
exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

������������� (ii)� Upon a second 
conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more 
than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or punished by imprisonment not to 
exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

������������� (iii)� Upon a 
third or subsequent conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and 
fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or punished by 
imprisonment for a term not exceeding five (5) years, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment. 

���� In determining the number 
of prior convictions pertaining to� contributing to the neglect or delinquency 
of a child for purposes of imposing punishment under this paragraph, the court 
shall disregard all such convictions occurring more than ten (10) years prior 
to such offenses.

��������� (b)� For the purpose of 
this section, a child is a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday.� 
A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a 
branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not considered a child for 
the purposes of this statute.

��������� (c)� If a child commits 
one (1) of the proscribed acts in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section 
upon another child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in 
youth court.

��������� (d)� If the child's deprivation 
of necessary clothing, shelter, health care or supervision appropriate to the 
child's age results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or 
emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment in custody of the 
Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years or to payment of a 
fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.

��������� (e)� A parent, legal 
guardian or other person who knowingly permits the continuing physical or 
sexual abuse of a child is guilty of neglect of a child and may be sentenced to 
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than 
ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars 
($10,000.00), or both.

���� (2)� Any person shall be 
guilty of felonious child abuse in the following circumstances: 

��������� (a)� Whether bodily 
harm results or not, if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or 
recklessly: 

������������� (i)� Burn any 
child;

������������� (ii)� Physically 
torture any child;

������������� (iii)� Strangle, choke, 
smother or in any way interfere with any child's breathing;

������������� (iv)� Poison a 
child;

������������� (v)� Starve a child 
of nourishments needed to sustain life or growth;

������������� (vi)� Use any type 
of deadly weapon upon any child * * *;.

��������� (b)� If some bodily 
harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, 
knowingly or recklessly:

������������� (i)� Throw, kick, 
bite, or cut any child;

������������� (ii)� Strike a 
child under the age of fourteen (14) about the face or head with a