New Canaan Risk of Injury to Minor Lawyer
Getting arrested in Connecticut for Risk of Injury to a Minor / Child Endangerment can devastate your personal life as well as your professional reputation. And as the best criminal defense attorneys will tell you, an arrest under CGS § 53-21 will not only result in a felony charge, but it will also trigger an automatic DCF investigation of your family, where aggressive DCF investigators will want to interview and interrogate your children and contact your children’s teachers and health care providers. You can be arrested for Risk of Injury to a Minor for relatively harmless and minor conduct, such as having an argument with your spouse in front of your children, speeding with your child in the car, or leaving your child unsupervised in the car for a few minutes while you pick up your dry cleaning. So if you are arrested, then contact a New Canaan risk of injury to a minor lawyer right away to not only understand your rights, but to also learn how to fight your arrest to a quick and cost-effective dismissal.
The Two Types of Risk of Injury Arrests in Connecticut
In New Canaan Connecticut and throughout the State of Connecticut, the Risk of Injury / Child Endangerment laws are enforced liberally, and are divided into two subsections of criminal conduct, which may come as a surprise to many people. The first subsection, CGS 53-21(a)(1), is the more frequently charged Risk of Injury crime in Greenwich and New Canaan Connecticut. Top New Canaan Connecticut criminal lawyers understand that this subsection prohibits any kind of conduct that puts a child under the age of 16 in a situation that endangers the child’s health or physical safety, or compromises the child’s morals or mental health. “Compromising a child’s moral or mental health” creates a black hole of police discretion that can be subject to the whim of any aggressive police officer’s imagination. The language of this statute can apply to a variety of scenarios that can lead to a felony Risk of Injury arrest in New Canaan, and possibly even a lifetime felony conviction. Some examples of Risk of Injury arrests in New Canaan Connecticut…a shoplifting arrest while your child is in a stroller, getting into a shouting match with your husband or wife in front of your child, being drunk around your children, letting your child skip school, or failing to place your child in a proper car seat.
The Most Risk of Injury Arrest in New Canaan – Sexual Contact with Intimate Parts
The less commonly charged (but more serious) Connecticut Risk of Injury / Child Endangerment arrest in New Canaan Connecticut is under CGS 53-21(a)(2), which applies to any person who has contact with the intimate parts of a child under 16 in a sexual and indecent manner which can likely impair the health and morals of the child. As the best Connecticut Risk of Injury lawyers know, the Connecticut penal code defines “intimate parts” as the child’s genitals and inner thighs. While you cannot get arrested in New Canaan for Risk of Injury for giving your infant or toddler a bath, or helping them get changed for bedtime (which obviously requires some contact with intimate parts), parents, caretakers, nannies and babysitters in New Canaan Connecticut must be careful about these scenarios, as children’s imaginations can sometimes run wild and kids will, in some circumstances, falsely accuse a parent or caretaker of improper touching in retaliation for a punishment or taking away of the child’s electronics or video games. Top New Canaan Connecticut criminal lawyers have seen false accusations take on a life of their own, as New Canaan police and DCF are required by law to investigate every accusation of New Canaan Connecticut improper sexual contact of a child.
What Are The Penalties for a New Canaan Connecticut Risk of Injury Arrest?
Depending on the circumstances of your New Canaan Connecticut arrest for Risk of Injury, you can face up to 20 years in prison, heavy fines, public sex offender registration, and sex offender probation. Risk of Injury / Child Endangerment – Non-Sexual Contact is a Class C Felony, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison, probation, and a maximum $10,000 fine. The more serious Risk of Injury / Sexual Contact with Intimate Parts conviction in Connecticut is classified as a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine. Top New Canaan Connecticut Risk of Injury and Sex Crimes lawyers also know that Connecticut law provides for enhanced penalties where a person is convicted of having sexual contact with the intimate parts of a child under the age of 13—imposing a mandatory minimum 5-year prison sentence. With such severe penalties at risk with a New Canaan Connecticut Risk of Injury arrest, you should contact a top New Canaan Connecticut Risk of Injury lawyer to craft the best defense and fight your New Canaan arrest for Risk of Injury under CGS 53-21.
Can a New Canaan Risk of Injury Arrest Trigger a New Canaan DCF Investigation?
In most cases, Risk of Injury arrests in New Canaan Connecticut are followed by an investigation of abuse or neglect by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (also known as “DCF”). Usually, at the time of your arrest for Risk of Injury, New Canaan Connecticut police will make a referral to DCF which then begins investigating you and your family. DCF investigators must complete their investigation or assessment within 45 days, and will often make frequent and unannounced visits to your home, and will want to interview your family members, children’s teachers, and health care providers. New Canaan DCF investigators will even want to interview your children without you in the room, which makes many parents uncomfortable. That’s why many New Canaan families hire a top New Canaan Connecticut DCF lawyer to assist them in the investigation. Connecticut DCF investigation lawyers can push back against certain DCF requests and prevent DCF from contacting your kids’ teachers and doctors, and neighbors. Know that you have the right to postpone your DCF interview and home visit until you have a chance to hire a top New Canaan DCF lawyer attorney. And here’s another reason why you should consult with any of the best Connecticut DCF lawyers: everything you or your family members tell a DCF investigator during a DCF investigation can be used against you in your New Canaan Connecticut Risk of Injury arrest case. So if you are facing a DCF investigation as a result of a New Canaan arrest for Risk of Injury, then you should consider hiring a DCF lawyer who can speed the DCF process along and help end the DCF investigation as quickly as possible. Click here to learn more about fighting a DCF investigation in New Canaan Connecticut.
Contact a New Canaan Risk of Injury to a Minor Attorney Today
As you can see, Risk of Injury / Child Endangerment arrests are serious and have the potential to shatter a family, as well as your professional reputation. So if you are facing a 53-21 felony arrest, then contact one of the New Canaan risk of injury to a minor lawyers at Mark Sherman Law today.