The first thing that must be understood when dealing with Child Abuse charges, is the definition of a “child” in Nevada.

The simple definition is that anyone under 18 years of age is a “child.” However, in Nevada the term is further broken into two categories: Under 14, and between 14 and 18. Generally speaking, any child abuse charges will carry harsher penalties if the child is under the age of 14.

Aside from the age of the child, there are two other factors that determine the harshness of the punishment: They form of the abuse, and the intensity of the abuse.

“Child Abuse” encompasses many different forms of “abuse.” All of the forms are vague in definition because the Nevada Legislature has determined that prosecutors should have wide latitude in determining when to charge someone with Child Abuse.

Physical Abuse – This is probably the easiest, and most obvious form of abuse. It is what most of us think about when we hear the term “abuse.” It essentially refers to any conduct or action that cause unjustifiable pain. This could be as obvious as punching, kicking, strangling, or throwing something at a child, and could be as vague as repeatedly and unjustifiably sending your child to bed without dinner.

Emotional Abuse – Emotional abuse is often difficult to determine, and often more difficult to prove because it involves the effect that your conduct has on the child. Any behavior that can injure a child’s intellectual, psychological, or emotional capacity can be considered emotional abuse. Generally speaking, emotional abuse requires more than just isolated incidents, it requires a pattern of conduct that has a negative effect because of its cumulative nature. Some possible examples include:

• Constantly telling the child that he or she is worthless, or stupid, or any other form of insult;
• Name-calling;
• Humiliation;
• Isolating, ignoring, or excluding;
• Threats and intimidation.

Sexual Abuse and Exploitation – Clearly, any form of sexual assault or rape is considered abuse. However, lewdness (flashing, or other indecent exposure) can also be charged as sexual assault. Moreover, many times charges of sexual abuse of a child stem from prostitution or solicitation. When the sexual abuse of a child takes place within the context of prostitution, then it is referred to as sexual exploitation.

Neglect – Although this was already touched on above as a form of emotional abuse, Neglect is also a broader type of abuse in that it can have both physical and emotional effects. Where the above types of abuse stem from some kind of action, Neglect arises from a failure to act. When someone is responsible for the care and welfare of a child and chooses to leave that child without proper supervision, food, shelter, or other necessary care (such as medicine, or clothing), Child Neglect will apply. Also, if the child is involved in an accident that requires immediate medical attention, and the guardian or responsible person delays too long in seeking such attention, then child neglect may apply.

Please Note: Failure to provide medical care for a child because of religious reasons, or because of personal beliefs in other forms of treatment, is not child neglect. However, the other forms of treatment must be recognized as suitable alternatives by the state of Nevada.

Child Endangerment – Once again, this is a somewhat vague term. Generally speaking, anytime someone chooses to put a child in a situation where the child is likely to be injured, either physically or emotionally, then Child Endangerment will apply. Some common examples include:

• Leaving the child in the care or custody of a person who you have reason to believe is abusive;
• Bringing the child into an environment where drugs are made and/or sold;
• Having guns not locked up and left within reach of children.

As already noted, all of these forms of child abuse are left intentionally vague so that prosecutors can make a decision about whether or not to charge someone based on all of the surrounding factors.

Yes, Child Abuse, Neglect & Endangerment laws often linked to other crimes that involve abuse against children. These crimes include:

• Shaken Baby Syndrome
• Sexual Assault
• Homicide
• Abuse or Death to an Unborn Child

Generally speaking, these crimes are not charged as Child Abuse, but rather as other, more serious crimes. The alleged abuser cannot be convicted of both violation of Child Abuse, Neglect & Endangerment and one of the above crimes, unless they are two separate occurrences. This is because of the Constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy, which prohibits convicting someone twice for the same specific conduct.

Unfortunately, double jeopardy does not mean that you cannot be charged with two crimes, it only means that you cannot be convicted for two crimes arising out of one situation.

There are two ways that a prosecutor can charge you with both crimes:

• Lesser Included Offense – All four of the above-listed crimes require conduct that would be considered Child Abuse plus some other factor. For example, Shaken Baby Syndrome requires child abuse that creates severe head trauma. So, the Prosecutor may charge someone with attempted murder by means of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Child Abuse, knowing that the child abuse is clear, but that the jury may not find enough facts to support Shaken Baby Syndrome. Because all of the above-listed crimes require both abuse and something else, Child Abuse can be treated as a “lesser included offense” to the other, more serious crime.
• Separate Crimes – Double jeopardy only applies when the convictions arise out of the same set of facts. In other words, if a child were to die after a severe beating, then that specific beating could only result in a conviction for either Homicide or Child Abuse. However, if a child suffers through years of physical abuse and then dies after a particularly severe beating, then the beating that led to the child’s death could lead to a homicide conviction, while all of the other beatings could lead to individual child abuse convictions.

Yes. Sort of. Of course, as noted above, Shaken Baby Syndrome is likely to be charged as a more serious crime, such as attempted homicide or homicide (if the child actually dies). Proving Shaken Baby Syndrome is difficult, however, because without the child stating that he or she was actually shaken, the only way to prove the charge is through showing that certain symptoms exist. Generally, this means showing that the child has some brain damage or hemorrhages (bleeding in or on the brain), or retinal hemorrhages (bleeding behind the eyes). However, as these symptoms can be caused by any trauma that causes the brain to shake violently within the child’s head, cases involving Shaken Baby Syndrome can be difficult to prosecute. As a result, prosecutors will also often seek a conviction on Child Abuse charges as a sort of “back up plan” in case the jury doesn’t believe the evidence proves Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Yes. However, in this context, it is important to understand that where the sexual assault of a minor is involved, prosecutors have the discretion to charge either sexual assault or child abuse. (While it is possible for the prosecutor to charge you with both crimes at the same time, if they seek both crimes arising from one situation, you can only be convicted of one or the other). Generally speaking, the prosecutor will seek both and allow the jury to decide which to convict.

If there is a pattern of conduct including circumstances of abuse, and others of sexual abuse, then the prosecutor will likely seek sexual abuse and child abuse, allowing the jury to convict for sexual abuse on the most egregious acts and for the lesser charge of child abuse on the less egregious acts

Yes. Homicide is murder. Often in child abuse cases, the prosecutor will charge the alleged abuser with Homicide or Attempted Homicide because of how severe the abuse was. If the child dies as the result of physical abuse, the prosecutor has the discretion to charge the accused with 1st Degree Murder.

However, Nevada makes the distinction that when a child dies as a result of neglect, then the accused cannot be charged with murder.

As with Shaken Baby Syndrome and Sexual Assault, if a child dies as a result of abuse, then the prosecutor may charge both Homicide and Child Abuse, but the accused can only be convicted of one or the other. If there is an ongoing pattern of abuse, and the child ultimately dies from a particularly severe instance, then the accused can be convicted of homicide or child abuse for the final instance, but can also be convicted of child abuse for all of the abuse leading up to the child’s death.

Abuse or Death to an Unborn Child refers to conduct that is not considered a legal abortion. In general, it refers to:

When someone other than the pregnant woman injures the mother in such a way that it causes the death of the unborn child and that person will be charged with manslaughter. Nevada law is unclear about the specific point at which a “fetus” becomes an unborn “quick” child, but it generally is meant as the point at which the mother can feel the child move.

Please Note: If the mother is ingesting illegal substances that then transfer to the unborn child, the mother cannot be charged with Child Abuse.