§ 260.10 Endangering the welfare of a child.\n A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child when:\n 1. He or she knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the\nphysical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than seventeen years\nold or directs or authorizes such child to engage in an occupation\ninvolving a substantial risk of danger to his or her life or health; or\n 2. Being a parent, guardian or other person legally charged with the\ncare or custody of a child less than eighteen years old, he or she fails\nor refuses to exercise reasonable diligence in the control of such child\nto prevent him or her from becoming an "abused child," a "neglected\nchild," a "juvenile delinquent" or a "person in need of supervision," as\nthose terms are defined in articles ten, three and seven of the family\ncourt act.\n 3. A person is not guilty of the provisions of this section when he or\nshe engages in the conduct described in subdivision one of section\n260.00 of this article: (a) with the intent to wholly abandon the child\nby relinquishing responsibility for and right to the care and custody of\nsuch child; (b) with the intent that the child be safe from physical\ninjury and cared for in an appropriate manner; (c) the child is left\nwith an appropriate person, or in a suitable location and the person who\nleaves the child promptly notifies an appropriate person of the child's\nlocation; and (d) the child is not more than thirty days old.\n Endangering the welfare of a child is a class A misdemeanor.\n
N.Y. Penal Law § 260.10
Endangering the welfare of a child
Applied in 140 court decisions — leading case Figueroa v. Mazza (2016)
Most recently applied in 87 Misc. 3d 134 - People v. Tarek (Dewan) (December 2025)
2014-09-22
How often courts cite this section
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.
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.