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Introduced Version House Bill 2452 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2452


(By Delegates Eldridge, Reynolds, Varner,
Rodighiero, Stephens, Fragale, Argento and Moore)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §61-8D-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to child abuse and neglect; providing that a child born addicted to a controlled substance constitutes child abuse.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-8D-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8D. CHILD ABUSE.
§61-8D-1. Definitions.

In this article: unless a different meaning plainly is required
(1) "Abuse" means the infliction, including a child born addicted to a controlled substance, upon a minor child of physical bodily injury by other than accidental means.
(2) "Bodily injury" means substantial physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition, including addiction to a controlled substance.
(3) "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury, including addiction to a controlled substance, which creates a substantial risk of death, or causes serious or prolonged disfigurement, or prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged loss of impairment of the function of any bodily organ.
(2) (4) "Child" means any person under eighteen years of age not otherwise emancipated by law.
(3) (5) "Controlled substance" means controlled substance as that term is defined in subsection (d), section one hundred one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code.
(4) (6) "Custodian" means a person over the age of fourteen years who has or shares actual physical possession or care and custody of a child on a full-time or temporary basis, regardless of whether such person has been granted custody of the child by any contract, agreement or legal proceeding. "Custodian" shall also include, but not be limited to, the spouse of a parent, guardian or custodian, or a person cohabiting with a parent, guardian or custodian in the relationship of husband and wife, where such spouse or other person shares actual physical possession or care and custody of a child with the parent, guardian or custodian.
(5) (7) "Guardian" means a person who has care and custody of a child as the result of any contract, agreement or legal proceeding.
(6) (8) "Neglect" means the unreasonable failure by a parent, guardian, or any person voluntarily accepting a supervisory role towards a minor child to exercise a minimum degree of care to assure said minor child's physical safety or health.
(7) (9) "Parent" means the biological father or mother of a child, or the adoptive mother or father of a child.
(8) (10) "Sexual contact" means sexual contact as that term is defined in section one, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code.
(9) (11) "Sexual exploitation" means an act whereby:
(A) A parent, custodian, guardian or other person in a position of trust to a child, whether for financial gain or not, persuades, induces, entices or coerces the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct as that term is defined in section one, article eight-c, chapter sixty-one of this code; or
(B) A parent, guardian, custodian or other person in a position of trust in relation to a child persuades, induces, entices or coerces the child to display his or her sex organs for the sexual gratification of the parent, guardian, custodian, person in a position of trust or a third person, or to display his or her sex organs under circumstances in which the parent, guardian, custodian or other person in a position of trust knows such display is likely to be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed.
(10) (12) "Sexual intercourse" means sexual intercourse as that term is defined in section one, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code.
(11) (13) "Sexual intrusion" means sexual intrusion as that term is defined in section one, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code.
(12) (14) A "person in a position of trust in relation to a child" refers to any person who is acting in the place of a parent and charged with any of a parent's rights, duties or responsibilities concerning a child or someone responsible for the general supervision of a child's welfare, or any person who by virtue of their occupation or position is charged with any duty or responsibility for the health, education, welfare, or supervision of the child.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a child born addicted to a controlled substance constitutes child abuse.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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