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Texas Penal Code - Section 25.06. Harboring Runaway Child

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Penal Code > Texas Penal Code - Section 25.06. Harboring Runaway Child

§ 25.06. HARBORING RUNAWAY CHILD.  (a) A person commits 
an offense if he knowingly harbors a child and he is criminally 
negligent about whether the child:
		(1)  is younger than 18 years;  and                                           
		(2)  has escaped from the custody of a peace officer, a 
probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, or a detention facility 
for children, or is voluntarily absent from the child's home 
without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a 
substantial length of time or without the intent to return.
	(b)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that 
the actor was related to the child within the second degree by 
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, 
Government Code.
	(c)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that 
the actor notified:
		(1)  the person or agency from which the child escaped 
or a law enforcement agency of the presence of the child within 24 
hours after discovering that the child had escaped from custody;  or
		(2)  a law enforcement agency or a person at the child's 
home of the presence of the child within 24 hours after discovering 
that the child was voluntarily absent from home without the consent 
of the child's parent or guardian.
	(d)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.                   
	(e)  On the receipt of a report from a peace officer, 
probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, a foster home, or a 
detention facility for children that a child has escaped its 
custody or upon receipt of a report from a parent, guardian, 
conservator, or legal custodian that a child is missing, a law 
enforcement agency shall immediately enter a record of the child 
into the National Crime Information Center.

Added by Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 1155, ch. 558, § 1, eff. Sept. 
1, 1979.  Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 4750, ch. 831, p. 4750, 
§ 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983;  Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 561, § 40, 
eff. Aug. 26, 1991.  Renumbered from § 25.07 by Acts 1993, 73rd 
Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.  Amended by Acts 1995, 
74th Leg., ch. 76, § 5.95(27), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Last modified: August 11, 2007