Wilton Risk of Injury Arrests
Child abuse itself is not its own crime. Someone who abuses a child could also face a risk of injury charge. Wilton risk of injury arrests could occur right on the scene. If a person commits a crime separate from risk of injury and a child is with them, they could be arrested for risk of injury as well as any other crimes that they may have committed. Contact a distinguished risk of injury attorney to discuss your possible defenses for a child endangerment charge.
Common Risk of Injury Scenarios
Any time a child is involved, the two most common scenarios that lead to risk of injury charges are children or a child under 15 in a house during a domestic violence dispute or when someone is arrested for child abuse or excessive physical discipline. Despite receiving charges for risk of injury, leaving a child unsupervised in a car has its own charge under Connecticut General Statutes §53-21a.
For corporal punishment of a child offense, the accused would receive risk of injury and possible assault charges. The accused may be required to leave their home if there is a domestic violence case involved and a Residential Stay-Away Protective Order was issued.
Types of Protective Orders or Conditions for Risk of Injury
There are three types of Protective Orders. The most common is a Full No-Contact Protective Order, which means the person would have to stay 100 yards away from the other person and cannot have any contact with them at all. A Residential Stay-Away Protective Order means that the person can contact the protected person but cannot go near their home. A Partial Protective Order means a person would be able to have contact with them and their home, but there would be certain other conditions imposed, like not to threaten them, or things like that.
There are three types of potential protective orders for Wilton risk of injury arrests:
- Full no contact which prohibits any contact whatsoever with the protected person
- Full residential stay-away which allows the contact but criminalizes entry into the protected person’s home even if it is also the accused person’s home
- Partial protective order allows contact but prohibits a person from assaulting, harassing, stalking, or following the protected person
When someone violates a protective order, they are arrested and charged with violation of protective order under Section 53a-223; which is a felony and carries up to five years in jail.
Child Custody Laws for Endangerment Cases
Issues of child custody and visitation after a person is charged with domestic violence in Stamford depend on whether there is a protective order extending to the children. If there is no protective order, a third party can help coordinate child visitation and child custody issues.
It depends on whether the protective order extends to the children. When violence was inflicted on the children, the protective order usually extends for them. The accused person is not likely allowed to visit the children. If the violence was inflicted only on a significant other, the protective order is usually not extended to the children, so the third party should be able to coordinate visitation efforts or rehabilitation efforts.
Domestic violence is a very complex issue and there are a lot of moving pieces. The process following Wilton risk of injury arrests moves very fast. A person accused of domestic violence is ordered to be in court the next day for an arraignment and the protective order is imposed. It is important that a person understands their rights and gets ahead of their arrest quickly before it is too late.