The Colorado Child Abuse Statute, especially for Felony Child Abuse Charges is complicated and typically calls for an investigation of two aspects:

1) What was the mental state of the accused person when the crime took place ?

2) What was the outcome of the actions of the accused–the injury to the child ?

The latter basically indicates an analysis of the injuries or harm suffered by the child. Based on the above two points, the law makes a decision regarding the punishment to be awarded to the accused.

Definition of child abuse

Briefly, an individual is said to commit child abuse if he/she undertakes an action that leads to injury of the child or poses a threat to the child’s health or life in any way. It could involve placing the child in an unreasonable or helpless situation or engaging in a consistent pattern of behavior that leads to malnourishment, absence of adequate health care, harsh punishment, ill treatment etc. which could ultimately lead to the child suffering serious physical harm or even death.

It is important to remember that in such a situation, “child” refers to a person below sixteen years of age.

Laws regarding child abuse

Child abuse can take place in several ways and the law for this crime is quite broad. It takes into consideration a large number of prospective scenarios. This makes it difficult to understand whether the accused person will be convicted or acquitted by the jury or not because the final decision will largely depend on prejudices, personal beliefs and also parenting choices of those on the jury panel.

No individual other than the person responsible for the child abuse act (perpetrator, accessory, co-conspirator) who files a report with the legal authorities will be subject to face and civil or criminal liability unless the person knows the charge to be untrue at the time of reporting it.

Felony

When a child abuse act results in injury or death, following actions could be taken under the Colorado Child Abuse Statute:

  • When an individual acts intentionally or irresponsibly and the act of child abuse causes death or injury to the child, it is categorized under class 2 felony
  • When an individual acts with unlawful or illegal negligence which causes death of the child, it is categorized under class 3 felony
  • When an individual acts intentionally or irresponsibly and the child abuse act causes the child to suffer serious bodily injury, it is a class 3 felony.
  • When an individual acts with unlawful negligence which causes serious physical harm to the child, it is a class 4 felony.

Seeking help from Criminal Defense Attorney

If you have been accused of felony under Child Abuse laws in Colorado, you can get in touch with experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Richard B. Huttner. He is known to have immense experience in providing criminal defense in cases of child abuse and other similar criminal charges. He could guide you in taking an informed decision which could significantly impact the final outcome of your particular case.