K.B.S., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court affirmed a juvenile's delinquency adjudication for child abuse under Fla. Stat. § 827.03(1), but expressed concern that the statute contains no age-based restriction on prosecution.
A fourteen-year-old juvenile may be prosecuted and convicted of child abuse under Florida Statutes § 827.03(1) for intentionally burning a nine-year-old with a cigarette.
[1] A juvenile may be prosecuted under Florida Statutes § 827.03(1) for child abuse against a younger victim, as the statute contains no age-based restriction on the perpetra…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“This would allow the State to prosecute a person of any age for the offense of child abuse if the victim were under age eighteen.”
The court explaining the statutory language and its potential application to perpetrators of any age.
K.B.S., a fourteen-year-old juvenile, intentionally burned a nine-year-old victim with a lighted cigarette. The state charged her with violating secti…
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PER CURIAM.
K.B.S., a juvenile, challenges the trial court’s order finding that she committed the delinquent act of child abuse, a third degree felony. We affirm the order of the trial court and write only-to express our concern that the legislature did not place an age-based restriction on these types of prosecutions.
The petition for delinquency alleged that K.B.S. violated section 827.03(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), in that she knowingly or willfully abused a child without causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the child. The evidence at trial showed that K.B.S., a fourteen-year-old juvenile, intentionally burned the victim, who was nine years old at the time, with a lighted cigarette. Intentional infliction of a physical or mental injury upon a child is included in the definition of child abuse under section 827.03(l)(a). The statute states that “[a] person who knowingly or willfully abuses a child ... commits a felony of the third degree.” This would allow the State to prosecute a person of any age for the offense of child abuse if the victim were under age eighteen. Here, the State chose to prosecute a fourteen-year-old for acts committed against a nine-year-old. However, the State could, under the statute, prosecute a nine-year-old (or younger) for child abuse if he or she intentionally inflicted a mental or physical injury upon a fourteen-year-old. This would appear to us to be an unintended result, and the legislature may well wish to review this issue.
Affirmed.
PARKER, C.J., and WHATLEY, J., and DANAHY, PAUL W., (Senior) Judge, Concur.
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State v. Nowlin, 50 So. 3d 79 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…applied to Nowlin, and the phrase “other person responsible for a child’s welfare” is not on its face limited to persons over eighteen years of age. To be sure, a juvenile can be prosecuted for child abuse under section 827.03. See K.B.S. v. State, 725 So. 2d 448, 449 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (holding the State could bring a petition for delinquency against a fourteen-year-old for child abuse under section 827.03(1) because the statute penalizes “a person who knowingly or willfully abuses a child” and “the legisla…
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Tate v. State, 864 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…ordinary or common intelligence fair notice of what constitutes forbidden conduct. Bouters v. State, 659 So. 2d 235, 238 (Fla.1995); State v. Hagan, 387 So. 2d 943, 945 (Fla.1980). This issue has been resolved adversely to Tate in K.B.S. v. State, 725 So. 2d 448 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). There, K.B.S., a fourteen-year-old juvenile, violated section 827.03(1) by knowingly or willfully abusing a child by intentionally burning the nine-year-old victim with a cigarette. Id. at 449. In K.B.S., the Second District exp…