Injury To A Child, Elderly, Or Disabled Person Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Section 22.04 makes harm to a protected person a felony at every level, even when the injury is minor, and a charge can rest on a failure to act. This page covers who the law protects, how the levels are set, how these cases are defended and how they move through Jefferson County.
What Is Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person In Texas?
Penal Code § 22.04 makes it an offense to cause serious bodily injury, serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury, or bodily injury to a child 14 or younger, an elderly individual 65 or older, or a disabled individual. It can be charged for an act or for a failure to act, and every level is a felony.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person?
Penal Code § 22.04 makes it an offense to cause a child, an elderly individual or a disabled individual one of three kinds of harm:
- Serious bodily injury
- Serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury
- Bodily injury
The statute defines each group. A child is 14 or younger. An elderly individual is 65 or older. A disabled individual is older than 14 and, because of age or a physical or mental condition, is substantially unable to protect themselves from harm or to provide food, shelter or medical care.
Unlike ordinary assault, there is no misdemeanor level. Bodily injury to an adult is a Class A misdemeanor, while bodily injury to someone in a protected group starts at a state jail felony and climbs from there.
What the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt:
- The person caused the harm, by an act or by an omission where a duty existed
- The person harmed was a child, an elderly individual or a disabled individual when it happened
- The harm was serious bodily injury, serious mental injury or bodily injury
- The person acted with the required mental state
An omission is a failure to act. It is chargeable when the person had a legal or statutory duty to act, or had assumed care, custody or control of the one harmed. That is how a caregiver can be charged for not providing food or medicine.
The mental state sets the level. Intentional, knowing, reckless and criminally negligent conduct each sit at a different rung, so the proof of what the accused was thinking is central and is often built from circumstances.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person In Texas?
Two things fix the level: how serious the harm was and which mental state the state can prove. Those run from intentional and knowing, through reckless, down to criminal negligence, meaning a failure to see a risk a reasonable person would have seen. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Serious injury, intentional or knowing.
The lowest level, with a fine of up to $10,000.
- Serious injury, intentional or knowing
- First degree felony. Five to ninety-nine years or life, and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Serious injury, reckless
- Second degree felony. Two to twenty years and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Bodily injury, intentional or knowing
- Third degree felony. Two to ten years and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Bodily injury, reckless
- State jail felony. 180 days to two years and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Criminal negligence
- State jail felony, and available only for an act, not an omission.
- Related consequences
- When the person is a family or household member, the case can also carry what is described on the family violence page.
The same serious injury is a first degree felony if the state proves intent and a state jail felony if it proves only criminal negligence. The top of the range differs by ninety-seven years or more.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Injury To A Child In Texas?
Can someone other than a parent be charged?
What if the injury was an accident?
How does the state show what caused an injury?
Does emotional harm count?
Can a conviction affect work with children or vulnerable adults?
Possible Defenses
How Can Injury To A Child Be Defended?
With no eyewitness in many of these cases, the medical evidence becomes the center of the file, and an attorney reviews it closely along with who had care of the person and when. No result can be promised.
The mental state moves the range the furthest, so the proof on what the person knew or intended gets close attention.
Texas law recognizes a parent's right to discipline.
Penal Code § 9.61 justifies non-deadly force by a parent or a person standing in a parent's place when they reasonably believe it is necessary to discipline the child or safeguard the child's welfare. Whether that applies depends on the amount of force and the facts.
An allegation can also lead the Department of Family and Protective Services to open a separate investigation, and what is said there can become evidence in the criminal case.
Accident Or Medical Cause
Is the injury consistent with a fall, an accident or an existing medical condition?
Timing And Care
When did the injury occur, and who was caring for the person then?
Serious Or Ordinary Injury
Was the harm serious bodily injury or bodily injury, which moves the level by two steps?
Mental State
Does the proof support intent, recklessness, or only negligence?
Duty To Act
For an omission, was there a legal duty or an assumption of care, custody or control?
Discipline
Does § 9.61 justify the force that was used?
Local Process
What Happens After An Injury To A Child Arrest In Jefferson County?
Because every level is a felony, these cases pass through a grand jury and a district court in Jefferson County.
Arrest And Bond
After booking, a magistrate sets bond and conditions, which can bar contact with the person involved and sometimes with other children in the home.
Grand Jury
The case is presented for indictment. Grand jurors can indict as charged, indict a lesser offense or return no bill.
District Court
After arraignment come discovery under article 39.14 and expert review, then a plea, a dismissal or a trial. A separate DFPS case may run alongside.
- Where it is heard
- In the district courts at the Jefferson County Courthouse on 1085 Pearl Street after a grand jury indictment. The case is presented at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1085 Pearl Street.
- Who prosecutes
- The Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
- Who makes the arrest
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After An Injury To A Child Charge?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Follow Every Condition
Bond or DFPS terms about contact must be followed exactly.
Be Careful With Caseworkers
What is said to a DFPS caseworker can be used in the criminal case.
Gather Care And Medical Records
Records of the person's health and of who cared for them can matter.
Write A Caregiver Timeline
Note who had care, and when, in the days around the injury.
Do Not Question The Person Involved
Talking over the case with them can create problems and evidence.
Avoid Social Media
Posts about the family or the case can be used by the state.
Speak with a lawyer before giving any statement to investigators or agencies. A felony charge in this category can affect custody, work and licensing as well as liberty. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about an injury to a child, elderly or disabled person charge in Jefferson County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 22: Injury to a child, elderly individual or disabled individual
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 6: Culpable mental states
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 9: Justification, including parental discipline
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment ranges
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A: Community supervision and listed offenses
- Texas Family Code Chapter 261: Investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Assault Charges
Other Assault Charges Handled In Beaumont, TX
Injury to a protected person is often filed beside assault or family violence, and the age or condition of the person hurt is what sets it apart. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Beaumont.
Assault
Three offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
An assault plus serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon. A second degree felony, and first degree in a narrow set of cases.
Vehicular Assault
Not a Texas statute by that name. A crash that hurts someone is charged under a different law, and which one decides the range.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless danger to another person is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing a gun at people or toward a building or vehicle is a third degree felony.
Family Violence
An assault between people in a family, household or dating relationship, with a protective order, firearm limits and a finding that stays on the record.
Kidnapping
Unlawful restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three levels of one idea, from a Class A misdemeanor to a first degree felony.
Terroristic Threats
A threat of violence can be a crime without any contact. The level runs from a Class B misdemeanor to a third degree felony.
Common Questions
Injury To A Child Questions People In Beaumont Ask
Who is protected by the injury to a child statute in Beaumont, TX?
Penal Code § 22.04 protects a child, an elderly individual and a disabled individual. A child is a person 14 years of age or younger. An elderly individual is 65 or older. A disabled individual is a person older than 14 who, because of age or a physical or mental condition, is substantially unable to protect themselves from harm or to provide basic care.
What are the penalty levels for injury to a child in Jefferson County?
Intentional or knowing serious bodily injury is a first degree felony. Reckless serious bodily injury is second degree. Intentional or knowing bodily injury is third degree. Reckless bodily injury and criminal negligence are state jail felonies. First degree carries five to ninety-nine years or life, and a state jail felony carries 180 days to two years.
Does the injury have to be serious to be charged in Beaumont, TX?
The statute does not require a lasting injury at any level. It covers serious bodily injury, serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury, and bodily injury. Bodily injury means physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition, so a case can be filed on pain alone. The type of injury and the mental state together set the degree.
Can a parent be charged for disciplining a child in Jefferson County?
A parent can be charged under § 22.04 when force used on a child results in bodily injury or worse. Penal Code § 9.61 treats non-deadly force by a parent or a person standing in a parent's place as justified when they reasonably believe it is necessary to discipline the child or protect the child's welfare. Whether it applies turns on the force used and the facts.
Can a failure to act be charged as injury to a child in Beaumont, TX?
Section 22.04 allows a charge based on an omission when the person had a legal or statutory duty to act, or had assumed care, custody or control of the child, elderly person or disabled person. An omission charge requires an intentional, knowing or reckless mental state. Criminal negligence supports a charge for an act, not for an omission.
Is a separate child welfare case possible after an arrest in Beaumont, TX?
An allegation of injury to a child can lead to an investigation by the Department of Family and Protective Services alongside the criminal case. The two proceed separately, with different rules and standards, and statements given in one can be requested in the other. Each case has its own deadlines.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
A charge involving a child or an older person can bring no-contact orders and parallel investigations from the start. Call early to go over them.
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