Child abuse; add deprivation of necessary supervision as a crime.

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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Horan

HOUSE BILL NO. 1608

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE THAT IF A PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN OR OTHER PERSON 2
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILD DEPRIVES A CHILD OF NECESSARY 3
SUPERVISION APPROPRIATE TO THE CHILD'S AGE RESULTING IN 4
SUBSTANTIAL HARM TO THE CHILD'S PHYSICAL, MENTAL, OR EMOTIONAL 5
HEALTH, THE PERSON MAY BE SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT; TO PROVIDE 6
CRIMINAL PENALTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 11
section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, 12
knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance 13
of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to 14
contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act 15
or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in 16
Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids 17
any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship 18
or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly 19
harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child 20
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who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship 21
or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child 22
shall have been committed by the youth court shall be guilty of a 23
misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not 24
to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not 25
to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and 26
imprisonment. 27
(b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a 28
person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who 29
has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for 30
a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not 31
considered a child for the purposes of this statute. 32
(c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts 33
in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another 34
child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in 35
youth court. 36
(d) If the parent has failed to provide the child with 37
food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health 38
of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability 39
unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child 40
is in imminent risk of harm, or the parent is unwilling to provide 41
reasonably necessary medical care, though that medical care does 42
not include recommended or optional vaccinations against childhood 43
or any other disease, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment 44
in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five 45
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(5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand 46
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. 47
(e) If a parent, legal guardian or other person 48
responsible for the child deprives a child of necessary 49
supervision appropriate to the child's age resulting in 50
substantial harm to the child's physical, mental, or emotional 51
health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment in custody of 52
the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years, 53
made to pay a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars 54
($5,000.00), or both. 55
( * * *f) A parent, legal guardian or other person who 56
knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a 57
child is guilty of neglect of a child and may be sentenced to 58
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for 59
not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more 60
than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 61
(2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in 62
the following circumstances: 63
(a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person 64
shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 65
(i) Burn any child; 66
(ii) Torture any child; 67
(iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way 68
interfere with any child's breathing; 69
(iv) Poison a child; 70
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(v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to 71
sustain life or growth; 72
(vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; 73
(b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, 74
and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: 75
(i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; 76
(ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) 77
about the face or head with a closed fist; 78
(iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in 79
the face or head; 80
(iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; 81
circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this 82
subparagraph (iv); 83
(c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually 84
occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or 85
recklessly: 86
(i) Strike any child on the face or head; 87
(ii) Disfigure or scar any child; 88
(iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; 89
(d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or 90
(c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to 91
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a 92
term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined 93
by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of 94
this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in 95
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the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not 96
less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as 97
determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction 98
under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to 99
imprisonment for life. 100
(e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily 101
harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not 102
limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, 103
and external or internal swelling of any body organ. 104
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious 105
bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and 106
includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent 107
disfigurement, permanent scarring, or any internal bleeding or 108
internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the 109
eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any 110
bodily function. 111
(g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" 112
means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an 113
individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, 114
whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or 115
suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious 116
physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is 117
intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not 118
limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to 119
sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly 120
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physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme 121
temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child 122
in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress 123
positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. 124
(h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this 125
subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a 126
child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in 127
loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in 128
a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or 129
reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or 130
child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense 131
to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. 132
(i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal 133
punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs 134
(a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious 135
bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) 136
of this subsection. 137
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 138
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 139
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 140
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 141
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 142
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 143
section. 144
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(4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers 145
a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the 146
child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or 147
possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent 148
to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as 149
prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of 150
child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not 151
more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than 152
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 153
(b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to 154
the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may 155
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years 156
or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars 157
($20,000.00), or both. 158
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 159
proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any 160
statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act 161
as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this 162
section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by 163
jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this 164
section. 165
(6) After consultation with the Department of Child 166
Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an 167
appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or 168
execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of 169
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ST: Child abuse; add deprivation of necessary
supervision as a crime.
this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a 170
specified period of time at any approved public or private 171
treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in 172
lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. 173
(7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant 174
to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the 175
physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or 176
condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground 177
that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient 178
privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The 179
physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless 180
introduced as an exhibit to his testimony. 181
(8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of 182
this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or 183
municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that 184
nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the 185
youth court. 186
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 187
and after its passage. 188