525.02 Cruelty to children.
525.03 Parental liability for acts of children.
525.04 Abandoned airtight containers.
525.05 Curfew.
525.06 Tobacco usage restrictions.
525.99 Penalty.
CROSS REFERENCES
See sectional histories for similar State law
Delinquent child defined - see W. Va. Code 49-1-4
Jurisdiction of municipal court - see W. Va. Code 49-5-1(b)
Contributing to delinquency of minor - see W. Va. Code 49-7-7 et seq.
(a) No person eighteen years of age or older shall knowingly contribute to or encourage the delinquency of a child.
(b) As used in this section, “delinquency” means the violation or attempted violation of any federal or state statute, county or municipal ordinance, or a court order, or the habitual or continual refusal to comply, without just cause, with the lawful supervision or direction of a parent, guardian or custodian.
(c) In addition to any penalty provided under Section 501.99 and any restitution which may be ordered by the court pursuant to West Virginia Code 61-11A-5, the court may order any person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) of this section to pay all or any portion of the cost of medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment provided the child resulting from the acts for which the person is convicted.
(d) This section does not apply to any parent, guardian or custodian who fails or refuses, or allows another person to fail or refuse, to supply a child under the care, custody or control of the parent, guardian or custodian with necessary medical care, when medical care conflicts with the tenets and practices of a recognized religious denomination or order of which parent, guardian or custodian is an adherent or member.
(e) It is not an essential element of the offense created by this section that the minor actually be delinquent.
(f) Upon conviction, the court may suspend the sentence of a person found guilty under this section. A suspended sentence may be subjected to the following terms and conditions:
(1) That offender pay for any and all treatment, support, and maintenance while the child is in the custody of the state or person that the court determines reasonable and necessary for the welfare of the child;
(2) That the offender post a sufficient bond to secure the payment for all sums ordered to be paid under this section, as long as the bond does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); and
(3) That the offender participate in any program or training that will assist the child in correcting the delinquent behavior or, in the case of neglect, that will assist the offender in correcting his or her behavior that led to violation of this section.
(g) (1) The penalty of a bond given upon suspension of a sentence which becomes forfeited is recoverable without a separate suit. The court may cause a citation or a summons to issue to the principal and surety, requiring that they appear at a time named by the court, not less than ten days, from the issuance of the summons, and show cause why a judgment should not be entered for the penalty of the bond and execution issued against the property of the principal and the surety.
(2) Any money collected or paid upon an execution, or upon the bond, shall be deposited with the clerk of the court in which the bond was given. The money shall be applied first to the payment of all court costs and then to the treatment, care or maintenance of the child who was at issue when the offender was convicted of this section.
(h) If the guilty person had custody of the child prior to conviction, the court or judge may, on suspending sentence, permit the child to remain in the custody of the person, and make it a condition of suspending sentence that the person provides whatever treatment and care may be required for the welfare of the child, and shall do whatever may be calculated to secure obedience to the law or to remove the cause of the delinquency.
(WVaC 61-8D-10)
No person shall cruelly ill treat, abuse or inflict unnecessary cruel punishment upon, any infant or minor child, and no person, having the care, custody or control of any minor child, shall willfully abandon or neglect the minor child.
In addition to any penalty provided under this section and any restitution which may be ordered by the court, the court may order any person convicted under the provisions of this section to pay all or any portion of the cost of medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment of the victim, the need for which results from the act or acts for which the person is convicted, whether or not the victim is considered to have sustained bodily injury.
(WVaC 61-8-24)
The custodial parent or parents of any minor child shall be personally liable in an amount not to exceed that specified in West Virginia Code 55-7A-2 for damages which are the proximate result of any one or a combination of the following acts of the minor child:
(a) The malicious and willful injury to the person of another; or
(b) The malicious and willful injury or damage to the property of another, whether the property be real, personal, or mixed; or
(c) The malicious and willful setting fire to a forest or wooded area belonging to another; or
(d) The willful taking, stealing and carrying away of the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession.
For purposes of this section, "custodial parent or parents" means the parent or parents with whom the minor child is living, or a divorced or separated parent who does not have legal custody but who is exercising supervisory control over the minor child at the time of the minor child's act.
Persons entitled to recover damages under this section shall include, but are not limited to, the State, any municipal corporation, county commission and board of education, or other political subdivision of this State or any person or organization of any kind or character. The action may be brought in magistrate or another court of competent jurisdiction. Recovery hereunder shall be limited to the actual damages, based upon direct out-of-pocket loss, taxable court costs, and interest from date of judgment. The right of action and remedy granted herein shall be in addition to and not exclusive of any rights of action and remedies therefor against a parent or parents for the tortious acts of his or their children heretofore existing under the provisions of any law, statutory or otherwise, or now so existing independently of the provisions of this section.
(WVaC 55-7A-2)
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