H-0452.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1134
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Representatives Scott, O'Brien, Ballasiotes, Lambert, Kessler, Stensen, Lovick, Keiser, Cooper, Hurst, Lantz, Ogden, Ruderman, Esser and Conway
Read first time 01/15/1999. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to child abandonment; and amending RCW 9A.42.080.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 9A.42.080 and 1996 c 302 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person is guilty of the crime of abandonment of a dependent person in the third degree if:
(a) The person is the parent of a child, a person entrusted with the physical custody of a child or other dependent person, or a person employed to provide to the child or dependent person any of the basic necessities of life; and
(b) The person recklessly abandons the child or other dependent person; and:
(i) As a result of being abandoned, the child or other dependent person suffers bodily harm; or
(ii) Abandoning the child or other dependent person creates an imminent and substantial risk that the child or other person will suffer substantial bodily harm.
(2) Knowingly leaving a child under the age of five years old unattended for a period of one hour or more creates a rebuttable presumption that the child has been recklessly abandoned under circumstances creating an imminent and substantial risk of substantial bodily harm to the child. For purposes of this subsection, leaving a child unattended means leaving the child in a situation in which it is not reasonable to believe that a responsible adult is available or that a responsible adult could be summoned to respond to the needs of the child.
(3) Abandonment of a dependent person in the third degree is a gross misdemeanor.
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