The following words and terms, when used in this section
and §§
13.302-13.309 (relating to child abuse
reporting requirements), have the following meanings, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise:
Bodily injury-Impairment of physical
condition or substantial pain.
Child-An individual under 18 years of
age.
Child abuse-Intentionally, knowingly or
recklessly doing any of the following:
(i) Causing bodily injury to a child through
any recent act or failure to act.
(ii) Fabricating, feigning or intentionally
exaggerating or inducing a medical symptom or disease which results in a
potentially harmful medical evaluation or treatment to the child through any
recent act.
(iii) Causing or
substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act
or failure to act or a series of such acts or failures to act.
(iv) Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of
a child through any act or failure to act.
(v) Creating a reasonable likelihood of
bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vi) Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or
exploitation of a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vii) Causing serious physical neglect of a
child.
(viii) Engaging in any of
the following recent acts:
(A) Kicking,
biting, throwing, burning, stabbing or cutting a child in a manner that
endangers the child.
(B)
Unreasonably restraining or confining a child, based on consideration of the
method, location or duration of the restraint or confinement.
(C) Forcefully shaking a child under 1 year
of age.
(D) Forcefully slapping or
otherwise striking a child under 1 year of age.
(E) Interfering with the breathing of a
child.
(F) Causing a child to be
present at a location while a violation of
18 Pa.C.S. §
7508.2
(relating to operation of methamphetamine laboratory) is occurring, provided
that the violation is being investigated by law enforcement.
(G) Leaving a child unsupervised with an
individual, other than the child's parent, who the actor knows or reasonably
should have known:
(I) is required to
register as a Tier II or Tier III sexual offender under 42 Pa.C.S. Chapter 97,
Subchapter H (relating to registration of sexual offenders), when the victim of
the sexual offense was under 18 years of age when the crime was
committed;
(II) has been determined
to be a sexually violent predator under
42 Pa.C.S. §
9799.24
(relating to assessments) or any of its predecessors;
(III) has been determined to be a sexually
violent delinquent child as defined in
42 Pa.C.S. §
9799.12
(relating to definitions); or
(IV)
has been determined to be a sexually violent predator under
42 Pa.C.S. §
9799.58
(relating to assessments) or has to register for life under
42 Pa.C.S. §
9799.55(b) (relating to
registration).
(ix) Causing the death of the child through
any act or failure to act.
(x)
Engaging a child in a severe form of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking
as those terms are defined under section 103 of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of
Pub.L. No.
106-386 ).
ChildLine-An organizational unit of the
Department of Human Services, which operates a 24-hour a day Statewide
toll-free telephone system for receiving reports of suspected child abuse,
referring reports for investigation and maintaining the reports in the
appropriate file.
Mandated reporter-A person who is
required under
23 Pa.C.S. §
6311
(relating to persons required to report suspected child abuse) to make a report
of suspected child abuse. For purposes of this chapter, the term includes
licensed funeral directors.
Parent-A biological parent, adoptive
parent or legal guardian.
Perpetrator-An individual who has
committed child abuse as defined in this section. The following apply:
(i) This term includes only the following:
(A) A parent of the child.
(B) A spouse or former spouse of the child's
parent.
(C) A paramour or former
paramour of the child's parent.
(D)
An individual 14 years of age or older who is a person responsible for the
child's welfare or who has direct contact with children as an employee of
child-care services, a school or through a program, activity or
service.
(E) An individual 14 years
of age or older who resides in the same home as the child.
(F) An individual 18 years of age or older
who does not reside in the same home as the child but is related within the
third degree of consanguinity or affinity by birth or adoption of the
child.
(G) An individual 18 years
of age or older who engages a child in severe forms of trafficking in persons
or sex trafficking, as those terms are defined under section 103 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of
Pub.L.
No. 106-386 ).
(ii) Only the following may be considered a
perpetrator for failing to act, as provided in this section:
(A) A parent of the child.
(B) A spouse or former spouse of the child's
parent.
(C) A paramour or former
paramour of the child's parent.
(D)
A person responsible for the child's welfare who is 18 years of age or
older.
(E) An individual 18 years
of age or older who resides in the same home as the child.
Person responsible for the child's
welfare-A person who provides permanent or temporary care,
supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training or control of a
child in lieu of parental care, supervision and control.
Program, activity or
service-Any of the following in which children participate and
which is sponsored by a school or a public or private organization:
(i) A youth camp or program.
(ii) A recreational camp or
program.
(iii) A sports or athletic
program.
(iv) A community or social
outreach program.
(v) An enrichment
or educational program.
(vi) A
troop, club or similar organization.
Recent act or failure to
act-An act or failure to act committed within 2 years of the date of
the report to the Department of Human Services or county agency.
Serious mental injury-A psychological
condition, as diagnosed by a physician or licensed psychologist, including the
refusal of appropriate treatment, that does one or more of the
following:
(i) Renders a child
chronically and severely anxious, agitated, depressed, socially withdrawn,
psychotic or in reasonable fear that the child's life or safety is
threatened.
(ii) Seriously
interferes with a child's ability to accomplish age-appropriate developmental
and social tasks.
Serious physical neglect-Any of the
following when committed by a perpetrator that endangers a child's life or
health, threatens a child's well-being, causes bodily injury or impairs a
child's health, development or functioning:
(i) A repeated, prolonged or egregious
failure to supervise a child in a manner that is appropriate considering the
child's developmental age and abilities.
(ii) The failure to provide a child with
adequate essentials of life, including food, shelter or medical care.
Sexual abuse or
exploitation-Any of the following:
(i) The employment, use, persuasion,
inducement, enticement or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another
individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which includes the
following:
(A) Looking at sexual or other
intimate parts of a child or another individual for the purpose of arousing or
gratifying sexual desire in any individual.
(B) Participating in sexually explicit
conversation either in person, by telephone, by computer or by a computer-aided
device for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any
individual.
(C) Actual or simulated
sexual activity or nudity for the purpose of sexual stimulation or
gratification of any individual.
(D) Actual or simulated sexual activity for
the purpose of producing visual depiction, including photographing,
videotaping, computer depicting or filming.
(ii) Any of the following offenses committed
against a child:
(A) Rape as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3121
(relating to rape).
(B) Statutory
sexual assault as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3122.1
(relating to statutory sexual assault).
(C) Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse as
defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3123
(relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse).
(D) Sexual assault as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3124.1
(relating to sexual assault).
(E)
Institutional sexual assault as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. 3124.2
(relating to institutional sexual assault).
(F) Aggravated indecent assault as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3125
(relating to aggravated indecent assault).
(G) Indecent assault as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3126
(relating to indecent assault).
(H)
Indecent exposure as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
3127
(relating to indecent exposure).
(I) Incest as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
4302
(relating to incest).
(J)
Prostitution as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
5902
(relating to prostitution and related offenses).
(K) Sexual abuse as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
6312
(relating to sexual abuse of children).
(L) Unlawful contact with a minor as defined
in
18 Pa.C.S. §
6318
(relating to unlawful contact with minor).
(M) Sexual exploitation as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
6320
(relating to sexual exploitation of children).
(iii) For the purposes of subparagraph (i),
the term does not include consensual activities between a child who is 14 years
of age or older and another person who is 14 years of age or older and whose
age is within 4 years of the child's age.
