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The Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act |
INDEX
§ 11166
§ 11165.7
§ 11165.9
§ 11167
§ 11165.6
§ 11165.1
§ 11165.2
§ 11165.4
§ 11172 |
Duty to report;
Mandated Reporters; Punishment for Violation
"Mandated reporter"; Training
Reports to authorities
Required information; Confidentiality of reporter's
identity; Advising individual of complaint or allegations
"Child abuse or neglect"
"Sexual abuse"; "Sexual assault"; "Sexual
exploitation"
"Neglect"; "Severe neglect"; "General neglect"
"Unlawful corporal punishment or injury"
Liability of person making report; Reimbursement by state
of attorney fees incurred in defending action |
SUMMARY:
As a general rule, clergy members have a mandatory reporting
duty in only their professional or employment capacity to report
suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect. A mandated
reporter “shall make a report ... whenever the mandated
reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the
scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a
child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects
has been the victim of child abuse or neglect . . .” Penal Code
Section 11166(a).
Statutory examples of reportable acts of sexual child abuse
include intentional touching of intimate body parts, or the
clothing covering intimate body parts where the touching is for
the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. The inner thigh,
groin or genital area is considered to be intimate body parts.
These body parts of a child may be touched for normal caretaker
responsibilities or interactions or a demonstration of affection
for a child so long as the touching is not for sexual purposes
or gratification. Penal Code Section 11165.1(b)(4).
If a member of the clergy is aware of a prohibited sexual
touching and learns of this abuse in his or her employment or
professional capacity, then the clergy member has a mandatory
duty to report such touching to authorities unless the knowledge
was acquired during a penitential communication. Knowledge of
child abuse acquired during a penitential communication is not
subject to the mandatory reporting requirement.
However, the penitential communication exception is very
narrowly drawn and strictly defined by statute. There is a
three-part test to determine whether the exception to the
reporting rule applies. First, the communication must have been
“intended to be in confidence, including, but not limited to, a
sacramental confession”. Second, the communication must have
been "made to a clergy member who, in the course of the
discipline or practice of his or her church, denomination, or
organization, is authorized or accustomed to hear those
communications”. And third, “under the discipline, tenets,
customs, or practices” of the clergy member’s church,
denomination, or organization, the clergy member must have a
“duty to keep those communications secret.” Penal Code Section
11166(d)(1). If any of these three elements are missing, then
the penitential exception would not apply and the matter must be
reported.
A clergy’s failure to report where a mandatory duty exists
constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months
confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine. |
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California Penal Code § 11166
(2007) |
§ 11166. Duty to report; Mandated
reporters; Punishment for violation
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a mandated reporter shall
make a report to an agency specified in Section 11165.9 whenever the
mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the
scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child
whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the
victim of child abuse or neglect. The mandated reporter shall make
an initial report to the agency immediately or as soon as is
practicably possible by telephone and the mandated reporter shall
prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a written followup
report thereof within 36 hours of receiving the information
concerning the incident. The mandated reporter may include with the
report any nonprivileged documentary evidence the mandated reporter
possesses relating to the incident.
(1) For the purposes of this article, "reasonable suspicion" means
that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain a
suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in
a like position, drawing, when appropriate, on his or her training
and experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect. For the purpose
of this article, the pregnancy of a minor does not, in and of
itself, constitute a basis for a reasonable suspicion of sexual
abuse.
(2) The agency shall be notified and a report shall be prepared and
sent even if the child has expired, regardless of whether or not the
possible abuse was a factor contributing to the death, and even if
suspected child abuse was discovered during an autopsy.
(3) Any report made by a mandated reporter pursuant to this section
shall be known as a mandated report.
(b) If after reasonable efforts a mandated reporter is unable to
submit an initial report by telephone, he or she shall immediately
or as soon as is practicably possible, by fax or electronic
transmission, make a one-time automated written report on the form
prescribed by the Department of Justice, and shall also be available
to respond to a telephone followup call by the agency with which he
or she filed the report. A mandated reporter who files a one-time
automated written report because he or she was unable to submit an
initial report by telephone is not required to submit a written
followup report.(1) The
one-time automated written report form prescribed by the Department
of Justice shall be clearly identifiable so that it is not mistaken
for a standard written followup report. In addition, the automated
one-time report shall contain a section that allows the mandated
reporter to state the reason the initial telephone call was not able
to be completed. The reason for the submission of the one-time
automated written report in lieu of the procedure prescribed in
subdivision (a) shall be captured in the Child Welfare Services/Case
Management System (CWS/CMS). The department shall work with
stakeholders to modify reporting forms and the CWS/CMS as is
necessary to accommodate the changes enacted by these provisions.
(2) This subdivision shall not become
operative until the CWS/CMS is updated to capture the information
prescribed in this subdivision.
(3) This subdivision shall become
inoperative three years after this subdivision becomes operative or
on January 1, 2009, which ever occurs first.
(4) On the inoperative date of these
provisions, a report shall be submitted to the counties and the
Legislature by the Department of Social Services that reflects the
data collected from automated one-time reports indicating the
reasons stated as to why the automated one-time report was filed in
lieu of the initial telephone report.
(5) Nothing in this section shall
supersede the requirement that a mandated reporter first attempt to
make a report via telephone, or that agencies specified in Section
11165.9 accept reports from mandated reporters and other persons as
required.
(c) Any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known
or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect as required by this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months
confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one thousand dollars
($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine. If a mandated
reporter intentionally conceals his or her failure to report an
incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe
neglect under this section, the failure to report is a continuing
offense until an agency specified in Section 11165.9 discovers the
offense.
(d)(1) A clergy member who acquires
knowledge or a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect during
a penitential communication is not subject to subdivision (a). For
the purposes of this subdivision, "penitential communication" means
a communication, intended to be in confidence, including, but not
limited to, a sacramental confession, made to a clergy member who,
in the course of the discipline or practice of his or her church,
denomination, or organization, is authorized or accustomed to hear
those communications, and under the discipline, tenets, customs, or
practices of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a
duty to keep those communications secret.
(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to modify or
limit a clergy member's duty to report known or suspected child
abuse or neglect when the clergy member is acting in some other
capacity that would otherwise make the clergy member a mandated
reporter.
(3)(A) On or before January 1, 2004, a clergy member or any
custodian of records for the clergy member may report to an agency
specified in Section 11165.9 that the clergy member or any custodian
of records for the clergy member, prior to January 1, 1997, in his
or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her
employment, other than during a penitential communication, acquired
knowledge or had a reasonable suspicion that a child had been the
victim of sexual abuse that the clergy member or any custodian of
records for the clergy member did not previously report the abuse to
an agency specified in Section 11165.9. The provisions of Section
11172 shall apply to all reports made pursuant to this paragraph.
(B) This paragraph shall apply even if the victim of the known or
suspected abuse has reached the age of majority by the time the
required report is made.
(C) The local law enforcement agency shall have jurisdiction to
investigate any report of child abuse made pursuant to this
paragraph even if the report is made after the victim has reached
the age of majority.
(e) Any commercial film and photographic print processor who has
knowledge of or observes, within the scope of his or her
professional capacity or employment, any film, photograph,
videotape, negative, or slide depicting a child under the age of 16
years engaged in an act of sexual conduct, shall report the instance
of suspected child abuse to the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the case immediately, or as soon as practically
possible, by telephone, and shall prepare and send a written report
of it with a copy of the film, photograph, videotape, negative, or
slide attached within 36 hours of receiving the information
concerning the incident. As used in this subdivision, "sexual
conduct" means any of the following:
(1) Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital,
anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or
opposite sex or between humans and animals.
(2) Penetration of the vagina or rectum by any object.
(3) Masturbation for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the
viewer.
(4) Sadomasochistic abuse for the purpose of sexual stimulation of
the viewer.
(5) Exhibition of the genitals, pubic, or rectal areas of any person
for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
(f) Any mandated reporter who knows or reasonably suspects that the
home or institution in which a child resides is unsuitable for the
child because of abuse or neglect of the child shall bring the
condition to the attention of the agency to which, and at the same
time as, he or she makes a report of the abuse or neglect pursuant
to subdivision (a).
(g) Any other person who has knowledge of or observes a child whom
he or she knows or reasonably suspects has been a victim of child
abuse or neglect may report the known or suspected instance of child
abuse or neglect to an agency specified in Section 11165.9.
(h) When two or more persons, who are
required to report, jointly have knowledge of a known or suspected
instance of child abuse or neglect, and when there is agreement
among them, the telephone report may be made by a member of the team
selected by mutual agreement and a single report may be made and
signed by the selected member of the reporting team. Any member who
has knowledge that the member designated to report has failed to do
so shall thereafter make the report.
(i)(1) The reporting duties under this section are individual, and
no supervisor or administrator may impede or inhibit the reporting
duties, and no person making a report shall be subject to any
sanction for making the report. However, internal procedures to
facilitate reporting and apprise supervisors and administrators of
reports may be established provided that they are not inconsistent
with this article.
(2) The internal procedures shall not require any employee required
to make reports pursuant to this article to disclose his or her
identity to the employer.
(3) Reporting the information regarding a case of possible child
abuse or neglect to an employer, supervisor, school principal,
school counselor, coworker, or other person shall not be a
substitute for making a mandated report to an agency specified in
Section 11165.9.
(j) A county probation or welfare department shall immediately, or
as soon as practicably possible, report by telephone, fax, or
electronic transmission to the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the case, to the agency given the responsibility
for investigation of cases under Section 300 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, and to the district attorney's office every known
or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect, as defined in
Section 11165.6, except acts or omissions coming within subdivision
(b) of Section 11165.2, or reports made pursuant to Section 11165.13
based on risk to a child which relates solely to the inability of
the parent to provide the child with regular care due to the
parent's substance abuse, which shall be reported only to the county
welfare or probation department. A county probation or welfare
department also shall send, fax, or electronically transmit a
written report thereof within 36 hours of receiving the information
concerning the incident to any agency to which it makes a telephone
report under this subdivision.
(k) A law enforcement agency shall
immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, report by
telephone, fax, or electronic transmission to the agency given
responsibility for investigation of cases under Section 300 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, and to the district attorney's office
every known or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect reported
to it, except acts or omissions coming within subdivision (b) of
Section 11165.2, which shall be reported only to the county welfare
or probation department. A law enforcement agency shall report to
the county welfare or probation department every known or suspected
instance of child abuse or neglect reported to it which is alleged
to have occurred as a result of the action of a person responsible
for the child's welfare, or as the result of the failure of a person
responsible for the child's welfare to adequately protect the minor
from abuse when the person responsible for the child's welfare knew
or reasonably should have known that the minor was in danger of
abuse. A law enforcement agency also shall send, fax, or
electronically transmit a written report thereof within 36 hours of
receiving the information concerning the incident to any agency to
which it makes a telephone report under this subdivision.
END OF STATUTE |
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California Penal Code § 11165.7 (2007)
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§ 11165.7. "Mandated reporter"; Training
(a) As used in this article, "mandated reporter" is defined as any
of the following:
(1) A teacher.
(2) An instructional aide.
(3) A teacher's aide or teacher's assistant employed by any public
or private school.
(4) A classified employee of any public school.
(5) An administrative officer or supervisor of child welfare and
attendance, or a certificated pupil personnel employee of any public
or private school.
(6) An administrator of a public or private day camp.
(7) An administrator or employee of a public or private youth
center, youth recreation program, or youth organization.
(8) An administrator or employee of a public or private organization
whose duties require direct contact and supervision of children.
(9) Any employee of a county office of education or the California
Department of Education, whose duties bring the employee into
contact with children on a regular basis.
(10) A licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed
community care or child day care facility.
(11) A headstart teacher.
(12) A licensing worker or licensing evaluator employed by a
licensing agency as defined in Section 11165.11.
(13) A public assistance worker.
(14) An employee of a child care institution, including, but not
limited to, foster parents, group home personnel, and personnel of
residential care facilities.
(15) A social worker, probation officer, or parole officer.
(16) An employee of a school district police or security department.
(17) Any person who is an administrator or presenter of, or a
counselor in, a child abuse prevention program in any public or
private school.
(18) A district attorney investigator, inspector, or local child
support agency caseworker unless the investigator, inspector, or
caseworker is working with an attorney appointed pursuant to Section
317 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to represent a minor.
(19) A peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, who is not otherwise described in
this section.
(20) A firefighter, except for volunteer firefighters.
(21) A physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist,
resident, intern, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse, dental
hygienist, optometrist, marriage, family and child counselor,
clinical social worker, or any other person who is currently
licensed under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the
Business and Professions Code.
(22) Any emergency medical technician I or II, paramedic, or other
person certified pursuant to Division 2.5 (commencing with Section
1797) of the Health and Safety Code.
(23) A psychological assistant registered pursuant to Section 2913
of the Business and Professions Code.
(24) A marriage, family and child therapist trainee, as defined in
subdivision (c) of Section 4980.03 of the Business and Professions
Code.
(25) An unlicensed marriage, family, and child therapist intern
registered under Section 4980.44 of the Business and Professions
Code.
(26) A state or county public health employee who treats a minor for
venereal disease or any other condition.
(27) A coroner.
(28) A medical examiner, or any other person who performs autopsies.
(29) A commercial film and photographic print processor, as
specified in subdivision (e) of Section 11166. As used in this
article, "commercial film and photographic print processor" means
any person who develops exposed photographic film into negatives,
slides, or prints, or who makes prints from negatives or slides, for
compensation. The term includes any employee of such a person; it
does not include a person who develops film or makes prints for a
public agency.
(30) A child visitation monitor. As used in this article, "child
visitation monitor" means any person who, for financial
compensation, acts as monitor of a visit between a child and any
other person when the monitoring of that visit has been ordered by a
court of law.
(31) An animal control officer or humane society officer. For the
purposes of this article, the following terms have the following
meanings:
(A) "Animal control officer" means any person employed by a city,
county, or city and county for the purpose of enforcing animal
control laws or regulations.
(B) "Humane society officer" means any person appointed or employed
by a public or private entity as a humane officer who is qualified
pursuant to Section 14502 or 14503 of the Corporations Code.
(32) A clergy member, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section
11166. As used in this article, "clergy member" means a priest,
minister, rabbi, religious practitioner, or similar functionary of a
church, temple, or recognized denomination or organization.
(33) Any custodian of records of a clergy member, as specified in
this section and subdivision (c) of Section 11166.
(34) Any employee of any police department, county sheriff's
department, county probation department, or county welfare
department.
(35) An employee or volunteer of a Court Appointed Special Advocate
program, as defined in Rule 1424 of the Rules of Court.
(36) A custodial officer as defined
in Section 831.5.
(37) Any person providing services to
minor child under Section 12300 or 12300.1 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (35) of subdivision (a),
volunteers of public or private organizations whose duties require
direct contact with and supervision of children are not mandated
reporters but are encouraged to obtain training in the
identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect and are
further encouraged to report known or suspected instances of child
abuse or neglect to an agency specified in Section 11165.9.
(c) Employers are strongly encouraged to provide their employees who
are mandated reporters with training in the duties imposed by this
article. This training shall include training in child abuse and
neglect identification and training in child abuse and neglect
reporting. Whether or not employers provide their employees with
training in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting,
the employers shall provide their employees who are mandated
reporters with the statement required pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 11166.5.
(d) School districts that do not train their employees specified in
subdivision (a) in the duties of mandated reporters under the child
abuse reporting laws shall report to the State Department of
Education the reasons why this training is not provided.
(e) Unless otherwise specifically provided, the absence of training
shall not excuse a mandated reporter from the duties imposed by this
article.
(f) Public and private organizations
are encouraged to provide their volunteers whose duties require
direct contact with and supervision of children with training in the
identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect.
END OF STATUTE |
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California Penal Code § 11165.9 (2007)
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§ 11165.9. Reports to authorities
Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be made by
mandated reporters, or in the case of reports pursuant to Section
11166.05, may be made, to any police department or sheriff's
department, not including a school district police or security
department, county probation department, if designated by the county
to receive mandated reports, or the county welfare department. Any
of those agencies shall accept a report of suspected child abuse or
neglect whether offered by a mandated reporter or another person, or
referred by another agency, even if the agency to whom the report is
being made lacks subject matter or geographical jurisdiction to
investigate the reported case, unless the agency can immediately
electronically transfer the call to an agency with proper
jurisdiction. When an agency takes a report about a case of
suspected child abuse or neglect in which that agency lacks
jurisdiction, the agency shall immediately refer the case by
telephone, fax, or electronic transmission to an agency with proper
jurisdiction. Agencies that are required to receive reports of
suspected child abuse or neglect may not refuse to accept a report
of suspected child abuse or neglect from a mandated reporter or
another person unless otherwise authorized pursuant to this section,
and shall maintain a record of all reports received.
END OF STATUTE
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California Penal Code § 11167 (2007)
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§ 11167. Required information; Confidentiality of reporter's
identity; Advising individual of complaint or allegations
(a) Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect pursuant to Section
11166 or Section 11166.05 shall include the name, business address,
and telephone number of the mandated reporter; the capacity that
makes the person a mandated reporter; and the information that gave
rise to the reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect and the
source or sources of that information. If a report is made, the
following information, if known, shall also be included in the
report: the child's name, the child's address, present location,
and, if applicable, school, grade, and class; the names, addresses,
and telephone numbers of the child's parents or guardians; and the
name, address, telephone number, and other relevant personal
information about the person or persons who might have abused or
neglected the child. The mandated reporter shall make a report even
if some of this information is not known or is uncertain to him or
her.
(b) Information relevant to the incident of child abuse or neglect
may be given to an investigator from an agency that is investigating
the known or suspected case of child abuse or neglect.
(c) Information relevant to the incident of child abuse or neglect,
including the investigation report and other pertinent materials,
may be given to the licensing agency when it is investigating a
known or suspected case of child abuse or neglect.
(d)(1) The identity of all persons who report under this article
shall be confidential and disclosed only among agencies receiving or
investigating mandated reports, to the prosecutor in a criminal
prosecution or in an action initiated under Section 602 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code arising from alleged child abuse, or
to counsel appointed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 317 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code, or to the county counsel or
prosecutor in a proceeding under Part 4 (commencing with Section
7800) of Division 12 of the Family Code or Section 300 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, or to a licensing agency when abuse
or neglect in out-of-home care is reasonably suspected, or when
those persons waive confidentiality, or by court order.
(2) No agency or person listed in this subdivision shall disclose
the identity of any person who reports under this article to that
person's employer, except with the employee's consent or by court
order.
(e) Notwithstanding the confidentiality requirements of this
section, a representative of a child protective services agency
performing an investigation that results from a report of suspected
child abuse or neglect made pursuant to Section 11166 or Section
11166.05, at the time of the initial contact with the individual who
is subject to the investigation, shall advise the individual of the
complaints or allegations against him or her, in a manner that is
consistent with laws protecting the identity of the reporter under
this article.(f) Persons who
may report pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 11166 are not
required to include their names.
END OF STATUTE
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California Penal Code § 11165.6 (2007)
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§ 11165.6 "Child abuse or neglect"
As used in this article, the term "child abuse or neglect" includes
physical injury inflicted by other than accidental means upon a
child by another person, sexual abuse as defined in Section 11165.1,
neglect as defined in Section 11165.2, the willful harming or
injuring of a child or the endangering of the person or health of a
child, as defined in Section 11165.3, and unlawful corporal
punishment or injury as defined in Section 11165.4. "Child abuse or
neglect" does not include a mutual affray between minors. "Child
abuse or neglect" does not include an injury caused by reasonable
and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course
and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer.
END OF STATUTE |
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California Penal Code § 11165.1 (2007)
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§ 11165.1. "Sexual abuse"; "Sexual assault"; "Sexual exploitation"
As used in this article, "sexual abuse" means sexual assault or
sexual exploitation as defined by the following:
(a) "Sexual assault" means conduct in violation of one or more of
the following sections: Section 261 (rape), subdivision (d) of
Section 261.5 (statutory rape), 264.1 (rape in concert), 285
(incest), 286 (sodomy), subdivision (a) or (b), or paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c) of Section 288 (lewd or lascivious acts upon a
child), 288a (oral copulation), 289 (sexual penetration), or 647.6
(child molestation).
(b) Conduct described as "sexual assault" includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Any penetration, however slight, of the vagina or anal opening
of one person by the penis of another person, whether or not there
is the emission of semen.
(2) Any sexual contact between the genitals or anal opening of one
person and the mouth or tongue of another person.
(3) Any intrusion by one person into the genitals or anal opening of
another person, including the use of any object for this purpose,
except that, it does not include acts performed for a valid medical
purpose.
(4) The intentional touching of the genitals or intimate parts
(including the breasts, genital area, groin, inner thighs, and
buttocks) or the clothing covering them, of a child, or of the
perpetrator by a child, for purposes of sexual arousal or
gratification, except that, it does not include acts which may
reasonably be construed to be normal caretaker responsibilities;
interactions with, or demonstrations of affection for, the child; or
acts performed for a valid medical purpose.
(5) The intentional masturbation of the perpetrator's genitals in
the presence of a child.
(c) "Sexual exploitation" refers to any of the following:
(1) Conduct involving matter depicting a minor engaged in obscene
acts in violation of Section 311.2 (preparing, selling, or
distributing obscene matter) or subdivision (a) of Section 311.4
(employment of minor to perform obscene acts).
(2) Any person who knowingly promotes, aids, or assists, employs,
uses, persuades, induces, or coerces a child, or any person
responsible for a child's welfare, who knowingly permits or
encourages a child to engage in, or assist others to engage in,
prostitution or a live performance involving obscene sexual conduct,
or to either pose or model alone or with others for purposes of
preparing a film, photograph, negative, slide, drawing, painting, or
other pictorial depiction, involving obscene sexual conduct. For the
purpose of this section, "person responsible for a child's welfare"
means a parent, guardian, foster parent, or a licensed administrator
or employee of a public or private residential home, residential
school, or other residential institution.
(3) Any person who depicts a child in, or who knowingly develops,
duplicates, prints, or exchanges, any film, photograph, video tape,
negative, or slide in which a child is engaged in an act of obscene
sexual conduct, except for those activities by law enforcement and
prosecution agencies and other persons described in subdivisions (c)
and (e) of Section 311.3.
END OF STATUTE |
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California Penal Code § 11165.2 (2007)
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§ 11165.2. "Neglect"; "Severe neglect"; "General neglect"
As used in this article, "neglect" means the negligent treatment or
the maltreatment of a child by a person responsible for the child's
welfare under circumstances indicating harm or threatened harm to
the child's health or welfare. The term includes both acts and
omissions on the part of the responsible person.
(a) "Severe neglect" means the negligent failure of a person having
the care or custody of a child to protect the child from severe
malnutrition or medically diagnosed nonorganic failure to thrive.
"Severe neglect" also means those situations of neglect where any
person having the care or custody of a child willfully causes or
permits the person or health of the child to be placed in a
situation such that his or her person or health is endangered, as
proscribed by Section 11165.3, including the intentional failure to
provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.
(b) "General neglect" means the negligent failure of a person having
the care or custody of a child to provide adequate food, clothing,
shelter, medical care, or supervision where no physical injury to
the child has occurred.
For the purposes of this chapter, a child receiving treatment by
spiritual means as provided in Section 16509.1 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code or not receiving specified medical treatment for
religious reasons, shall not for that reason alone be considered a
neglected child. An informed and appropriate medical decision made
by parent or guardian after consultation with a physician or
physicians who have examined the minor does not constitute neglect.
END OF STATUTE |
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California Penal Code § 11165.4 (2007)
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§ 11165.4. "Unlawful corporal punishment or injury"
As used in this article, "unlawful corporal punishment or injury"
means a situation where any person willfully inflicts upon any child
any cruel or inhuman corporal punishment or injury resulting in a
traumatic condition. It does not include an amount of force that is
reasonable and necessary for a person employed by or engaged in a
public school to quell a disturbance threatening physical injury to
person or damage to property, for purposes of self-defense, or to
obtain possession of weapons or other dangerous objects within the
control of the pupil, as authorized by Section 49001 of the
Education Code. It also does not include the exercise of the degree
of physical control authorized by Section 44807 of the Education
Code. It also does not include an injury caused by reasonable and
necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course and
scope of his or her employment as a peace officer.
END OF STATUTE
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California Penal Code § 11172 (2007)
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§ 11172. Liability of person making report; Reimbursement by state
of attorney fees incurred in defending action
(a) No mandated reporter shall be civilly or criminally liable for
any report required or authorized by this article. Any other person
reporting a known or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect
shall not incur civil or criminal liability as a result of any
report authorized by this article unless it can be proven that a
false report was made and the person knew that the report was false
or was made with reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the
report, and any person who makes a report of child abuse or neglect
known to be false or with reckless disregard of the truth or falsity
of the report is liable for any damages caused. No person required
to make a report pursuant to this article, nor any person taking
photographs at his or her direction, shall incur any civil or
criminal liability for taking photographs of a suspected victim of
child abuse or neglect, or causing photographs to be taken of a
suspected victim of child abuse or neglect, without parental
consent, or for disseminating the photographs with the reports
required by this article. However, this section shall not be
construed to grant immunity from this liability with respect to any
other use of the photographs.
(b) Any person, who, pursuant to a request from a government agency
investigating a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, provides
the requesting agency with access to the victim of a known or
suspected instance of child abuse or neglect shall not incur civil
or criminal liability as a result of providing that access.
(c)(1) The Legislature finds that even though it has provided immunity
from liability to persons required or authorized to make reports
pursuant to this article, that immunity does not eliminate the
possibility that actions may be brought against those persons based
upon required or authorized reports. In order to further limit the
financial hardship that those persons may incur as a result of
fulfilling their legal responsibilities, it is necessary that they
not be unfairly burdened by legal fees incurred in defending those
actions. Therefore, a mandated reporter may present a claim to the
State Board of Control for reasonable attorney's fees and costs
incurred in any action against that person on the basis of making a
report required or authorized by this article if the court has
dismissed the action upon a demurrer or motion for summary judgment
made by that person, or if he or she prevails in the action. The
State Board of Control shall allow that claim if the requirements of
this subdivision are met, and the claim shall be paid from an
appropriation to be made for that purpose. Attorney's fees awarded
pursuant to this section shall not exceed an hourly rate greater
than the rate charged by the Attorney General of the State of
California at the time the award is made and shall not exceed an
aggregate amount of fifty thousand dollars ($ 50,000).
(2)
This subdivision shall not apply if a public entity has provided for
the defense of the action pursuant to Section 995 of the Government
Code.
(d) A court may award attorney's fees and costs to a commercial film
and photographic print processor when a suit is brought against the
processor because of a disclosure mandated by this article and the
court finds this suit to be frivolous.
END OF STATUTE |
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