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Ind. Code § 35-46-1-5

Nonsupport of a dependent child

Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case Davis v. State (1985)

Most recently applied in John Doe v. Adam Gray (July 2023)

As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.6

How often courts cite this section

19791990200020102020202340
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Sec. 5. (a) A person who knowingly or intentionally fails to provide support to the person's dependent child commits nonsupport of a child, a Level 6 felony. However, the offense is a Level 5 felony if the person has a previous conviction under this section.

(b) It is a defense that the child had abandoned the home of the child's family without the consent of the child's parent or on the order of a court, but it is not a defense that the child had abandoned the home of the child's family if the cause of the child's leaving was the fault of the child's parent.

(c) It is a defense that the accused person, in the legitimate practice of the person's religious belief, provided treatment by spiritual means through prayer, in lieu of medical care, to the person's dependent child.

(d) It is a defense that the accused person was unable to provide support.

Official source: Indiana General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Indiana statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.