Is child endangerment a felony?

Child endangerment generally means putting a child at risk of harm by what you do or fail to do. Pennsylvania's law, for example, covers a parent, guardian or other person supervising a child under 18 who "knowingly endangers the welfare of the child by violating a duty of care, protection or support."¹

The name and the details differ by state. Georgia calls its version cruelty to children, and Texas has an offense called abandoning or endangering a child.

In Texas, a person endangers a child by acting or failing to act, with intent, knowledge, recklessness or criminal negligence, in a way that places the child "in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment."²

Texas also presumes endangerment in certain drug-related situations, such as manufacturing, possessing or using methamphetamine or certain other controlled substances in the child's presence.

Georgia's cruelty to children law covers causing a child under 18 "cruel or excessive physical or mental pain." It is first degree if done maliciously and second degree if done with criminal negligence.³

In several states the basic offense is a misdemeanor. It is a class A misdemeanor in New York and Illinois, a first-degree misdemeanor in Ohio, and a Class A1 misdemeanor in North Carolina. California treats conduct not likely to cause great bodily harm or death as a misdemeanor.^4,5,6,7,8

Ohio's misdemeanor applies to a violation of the endangering-children section's division (A) or (B)(1) with no qualifying prior conviction and no serious physical harm. North Carolina's misdemeanor applies when a parent or caregiver inflicts or allows physical injury, or creates or allows a substantial risk of physical injury, to a child under 16. New York's section lists no felony level.

In Pennsylvania, the basic offense of endangering the welfare of a child is a misdemeanor of the first degree.¹

It rises to a felony if there is a course of conduct or a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, as explained below.

In Georgia, cruelty to children in the third degree is a misdemeanor for a first or second conviction. It covers a primary aggressor who intentionally lets a child witness a forcible felony, battery or family violence battery, or who commits one of those acts knowing that a child under 18 is present and sees or hears it.³

A third or later conviction of third-degree cruelty to children is a felony, with a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, imprisonment of one to three years, or both.

In the states checked, a felony charge usually turns on how badly the child was hurt or put at risk, or on a prior conviction. Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia raise the grade when a child suffers serious harm. Illinois, Ohio and Georgia raise it for prior convictions.^{3,5,6,9,10,11}

Illinois makes a second or later violation a Class 3 felony, and also a Class 3 felony if the violation is a proximate cause of the child's death. Ohio makes it a fourth-degree felony if the person was previously convicted of this offense or of an offense involving neglect, abandonment, contributing to the delinquency of, or physical abuse of a child. Georgia makes a third or later conviction of third-degree cruelty to children a felony.

Pennsylvania raises the offense to a felony of the third degree if the person engaged in a course of conduct of endangering a child's welfare, or if the conduct created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.¹

If the conduct both created that risk and was part of a course of conduct, it is a felony of the second degree. The grade also goes up one level if the child was under six at the time of the offense.

In Georgia, the more serious degrees of cruelty to children carry prison terms. First degree covers malicious conduct or willfully depriving a child of necessary sustenance to the extent the child's health or well-being is jeopardized, and second degree covers criminal negligence.³

First-degree cruelty to children carries imprisonment of five to 20 years. Second degree carries one to ten years.

Texas treats endangering a child as a felony, and every grade of the offense in Section 22.041 is a felony. The statute has no misdemeanor level.²

Endangering a child is a state jail felony. Abandoning a child is a state jail felony if the person intended to return, a third-degree felony if not, and a second-degree felony if the abandonment placed the child in imminent danger, based on what a reasonable person would believe.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: endangering the welfare of children is a misdemeanor of the first degree. It is a felony of the third degree for a course of conduct or a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, and a felony of the second degree if both apply.¹

Georgia

Georgia: cruelty to children in the first degree carries five to 20 years in prison and second degree carries one to ten years. Third degree is a misdemeanor on a first or second conviction and a felony on a third or later conviction.³

Georgia grades the offense by degree and a prison range, not by a felony class.

Texas

Texas: endangering a child is a state jail felony. Abandoning a child is a state jail felony, a third-degree felony or a second-degree felony, depending on the person's intent and the danger to the child.²

New York

New York: endangering the welfare of a child is a class A misdemeanor.⁴

Section 260.10 covers knowingly acting in a way likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child under 17. It also covers a parent, guardian or other person legally charged with a child's care who fails to use reasonable diligence to keep a child under 18 from becoming an abused child, neglected child, juvenile delinquent or person in need of supervision. The section lists no felony level.

Florida

Florida: abuse and neglect of a child are felonies at every level. Aggravated child abuse is a first-degree felony. Neglect that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement is a second-degree felony, and abuse or neglect without that harm is a third-degree felony.¹⁰

Under section 827.03, aggravated child abuse includes aggravated battery on a child, willfully torturing or maliciously punishing a child, and knowingly or willfully abusing a child and causing great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement. Neglect means a caregiver's willful failure to provide the care, supervision and services a child needs, and it can be based on repeated conduct or a single incident that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, serious injury or a substantial risk of death.

California

California: willfully causing or permitting a child to suffer or be endangered, under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, is punishable by up to one year in county jail or by two, four or six years in state prison. In other circumstances it is a misdemeanor.^8,12

Penal Code section 273a(a) allows either county jail or state prison, so it can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17(b). Subdivision (b), for conduct not likely to produce great bodily harm or death, is a misdemeanor. If a person is convicted and given probation, the court must require at least 48 months of probation and a child abuser's treatment counseling program of at least one year, unless it waives a condition in the interests of justice and states its reasons.

Illinois

Illinois: endangering the life or health of a child is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or later violation is a Class 3 felony, and so is a violation that is a proximate cause of the child's death.⁵

The offense requires that the person knowingly cause or permit a child's life or health to be endangered, or knowingly cause or permit a child to be placed in circumstances that endanger the child's life or health. A change in the law, Public Act 104-832, takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. It also makes the offense a Class 3 felony if the person has a prior conviction in another state for a substantially equivalent offense.

Ohio

Ohio: endangering children is a first-degree misdemeanor for a basic violation of division (A) or (B)(1). It is a fourth-degree felony with a qualifying prior conviction, a third-degree felony if a division (A) violation causes serious physical harm, and a second-degree felony if a division (B)(1) violation causes serious physical harm.⁶

Division (A) covers a parent, guardian or custodian who creates a substantial risk to a child's health or safety by violating a duty of care, protection or support. Division (B)(1) covers abusing the child. The law applies to children under 18, or under 21 if the child has a mental or physical disability. Other parts of the section, such as torturing a child, drunk driving with a child in the vehicle and the other conduct in division (B), have their own penalties that this page does not cover.

North Carolina

North Carolina: child abuse of a child under 16 is a Class A1 misdemeanor when a parent or caregiver inflicts or allows physical injury, or creates a substantial risk of physical injury. Intentionally inflicting serious physical injury is a Class D felony, and intentionally inflicting serious bodily injury is a Class B2 felony.^7,9

A caregiver whose willful act or grossly negligent omission shows reckless disregard for human life commits a Class E felony if serious bodily injury results, and a Class G felony if serious physical injury results. The law defines serious physical injury as injury that causes great pain and suffering, including serious mental injury. Serious bodily injury includes injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious permanent disfigurement, coma, or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of a body part's function.

Virginia

Virginia: abuse and neglect of a child under 18 is a felony at every level in section 18.2-371.1. Willfully causing or permitting serious injury is a Class 4 felony, and a willful act or omission so gross, wanton and culpable that it shows reckless disregard for human life is a Class 6 felony.¹¹

Serious injury includes disfigurement, a fracture, a severe burn or laceration, mutilation, maiming, forced ingestion of dangerous substances and life-threatening internal injuries. The section also makes it a Class 5 felony for a caregiver to cause or enable a child to gain possession of a firearm in certain situations. The section lists no misdemeanor level.