(a) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide adequate support to:
(1) The person's spouse, as required by law;
(2) The person's child who is under age 18, or the persons's child with a mental or physical disability who is under age 21;
(3) The person's aged or infirm parent or adoptive parent, who from lack of ability and means is unable to provide adequately for the parent's own support.
(b) (1) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide support as established by a court order to, another person whom, by court order or decree, the person:
A. Is legally obligated to support; or
B. Was legally obligated to support, and an amount for support:
1. Was due and owing prior to the date the person’s duty to pay current support terminated; and
2. Remains unpaid.
(2) The period of limitation under R.C. § 2901.13 applicable to division (b)(1)B. of this section shall begin to run on the date the person’s duty to pay current support terminates.
(c) No person shall aid, abet, induce, cause, encourage, or contribute to a child or a ward of the juvenile court becoming a dependent child, as defined in R.C. § 2151.04, or a neglected child, as defined in R.C. § 2151.03.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of failure to provide adequate support under division (a) of this section or a charge of failure to provide support established by a court order under division (b) of this section that the accused was unable to provide adequate support or the established support, but did provide the support that was within his or her ability and means.
(e) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (A)(3) of this section that the parent abandoned the accused or failed to support the accused as required by law, while the accused was under age 18, or had a mental or physical disability and was under age 21.
(f) It is not a defense to a charge under division (b) of this section that the person whom a court has ordered the accused to support is being adequately supported by someone other than the accused.
(g) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section or a substantially equivalent state law or municipal ordinance, or if the offender has failed to provide support under division (a)(2) or (b) of this section for a total accumulated period of 26 weeks out of 104 consecutive weeks, whether or not the 26 weeks were consecutive, then a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony violation of this section or a substantially equivalent state law or municipal ordinance, a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law.
(2) If the offender is guilty of nonsupport of dependents by reason of failing to provide support to his or her child as required by a child support order issued on or after April 15, 1985, pursuant to R.C. § 2151.23, 2151.231, 2151.232, 2151.33, 3105.21, 3109.05, 3111.13, 3113.04, 3113.31, 3115.401, or former R.C. § 3115.31, the court, in addition to any other sentence imposed, shall assess all court costs arising out of the charge against the person and require the person to pay any reasonable attorney's fees of any adverse party other than the state, as determined by the court, that arose in relation to the charge.
(3) Whoever violates division (c) of this section is guilty of contributing to the nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. Each day of a violation of division (c) of this section is a separate offense.
(R.C. § 2919.21) (`80 Code, § 636.09) Penalty, see § 698.02