§ 40.1-103. Cruelty and injuries to children; penalty; abandoned infant
A. It shall be unlawful for any person employing or having the custody of any child willfully or negligently to cause or permit the life of such child to be endangered or the health of such child to be injured, or willfully or negligently to cause or permit such child to be placed in a situation that its life, health or morals may be endangered, or to cause or permit such child to be overworked, tortured, tormented, mutilated, beaten or cruelly treated. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
B. If a prosecution under this section is based solely on the accused parent having left the child at a hospital or rescue squad, it shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution of a parent under this section that such parent safely delivered the child to a hospital that provides 24-hour emergency services or to an attended rescue squad that employs emergency medical technicians, within the first 14 days of the child's life. In order for the affirmative defense to apply, the child shall be delivered in a manner reasonably calculated to ensure the child's safety.
(Code 1950, § 40-112; 1970, c. 321; 1991, c. 511; 2003, cc. 816, 822; 2006, c. 935.)
Sections: Previous 40.1-97 40.1-98 40.1-100 40.1-100.1 40.1-100.2 40.1-101 40.1-102 40.1-103 40.1-104 40.1-105 40.1-106 40.1-109 40.1-110 40.1-111 40.1-112 NextLast modified: April 3, 2009