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Va. Code Ann. § 40.1-103

Cruelty and injuries to children; penalty; abandoned infant

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Lovisi v. Commonwealth (1972)

Most recently applied in 92 Va. Cir. 275 - Green v. Bell-Van Patten (January 2016)

Code 1950, § 40-112; 1970, c. 321; 1991, c. 511; 2003, cc. 816, 822; 2006, c. 935; 2015, cc. 502, 503; 2022, cc. 80, 81.

How often courts cite this section

19721980199020002010201620
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.

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 is 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 emergency medical services agency, it shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution of a parent under this section that such parent safely delivered the child within the first 30 days of the child's life to (i) a hospital that provides 24-hour emergency services, (ii) an attended emergency medical services agency that employs emergency medical services personnel, or (iii) a newborn safety device located at and operated by such hospital or emergency medical services agency. In order for the affirmative defense to apply, the child shall be delivered in a manner reasonably calculated to ensure the child's safety.

Official source: Virginia Law Portal (LIS). Reproduced from public-domain Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.