An Act To Criminalize the Failure To Make a Report of Child Abuse or Neglect as Required by Statute

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4011-A, sub-§10  is enacted to read:

summary

Current law requires certain persons to report or cause a report to be made to the Department of Health and Human Services or the appropriate district attorney's office when they know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been or is likely to be abused or neglected or that a suspicious child death has occurred. This bill criminalizes the failure of a person to meet this requirement. Under current law, such a person commits a civil violation. Under this bill, failure to report or cause a report to be made is also a Class E crime, punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days.