Injury To A Child, Elderly, Or Disabled Person Lawyer In Orange, TX
The same bruise that would be a misdemeanor assault on an adult is a felony when the person hurt is 14 or younger, 65 or older, or disabled, and the charge can be based on a failure to act. This page covers who the law protects, the levels of the offense, the defenses and the court process.
What Is Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person In Texas?
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.04, it is an offense to cause serious bodily injury, serious mental deficiency 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. Every level is a felony.
Source: Texas Penal Code § 22.04, Injury To A Child, Elderly Individual, Or Disabled Individual
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person?
Texas Penal Code § 22.04 makes it an offense to cause one of three kinds of harm to a child, an elderly individual or a disabled individual:
- Serious bodily injury
- Serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury
- Bodily injury
The statute defines each protected group. A child is 14 years of age or younger. An elderly individual is 65 or older. A disabled individual is a person of any age who is substantially unable to protect themselves from harm, or to provide their own food, shelter or medical care, because of a physical or mental condition.
Unlike ordinary assault, there is no misdemeanor version. Bodily injury to an adult is a Class A. Bodily injury to a person inside one of these groups starts as a state jail felony and goes up 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
- The harm was serious bodily injury, serious mental injury or bodily injury
- The person acted with the required mental state
Section 22.04 covers harm caused by an act or by an omission. An omission is chargeable when the person had a legal or statutory duty to act, or had assumed care, custody or control of the child, elderly or disabled person. That is how a parent can be charged for failing to get a child medical care, or a caregiver for failing to provide an elderly person food or medicine.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person In Texas?
The level depends on two things: how serious the harm was, and the mental state the state can prove. The mental states run from intentional and knowing, through reckless, down to criminal negligence, which means failing to perceive a risk a reasonable person would have seen. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Serious injury, intentional or knowing.
The lowest level, up to a $10,000 fine.
- 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.
- Bodily injury, intentional or knowing
- Third degree felony. Two to ten years.
- Bodily injury, reckless
- State jail felony. 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Criminal negligence, any level
- State jail felony. Available only for an act, not an omission.
- 3G status
- Some first degree injury to a child cases are listed among the 3G offenses, which limits judge-ordered community supervision.
- Related consequences
- When the person is a family or household member, the case can also carry the consequences described on the family violence page.
The same serious injury is a first degree felony if intentional and a state jail felony if criminally negligent. The difference in the maximum is ninety-nine years or two.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Injury To A Child In Texas?
Can a babysitter or relative be charged, not only a parent?
What if a child's injury happened by accident?
How does the state prove how an injury happened?
Does mental injury count?
Can a conviction affect work with children or vulnerable people?
Possible Defenses
How Can Injury To A Child Be Defended?
Many injury to a child or elderly person cases have no eyewitness. The state builds them from medical records and expert opinion. That makes the medical evidence the center of the case, and an attorney reviews it closely. No result can be promised.
The mental state moves the range the furthest, so the evidence 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 person standing in place of a parent when they reasonably believe it is necessary to discipline the child or safeguard the child's welfare. Whether that applies depends on the force used and the facts.
An allegation can also lead the Department of Family and Protective Services to open a separate investigation, and what is said in it can become evidence in the criminal case.
Accident Or Medical Cause
Is the injury consistent with a fall, an accident or a medical condition?
Timing And Care
When did the injury happen, and who had care of the person at that time?
Serious Or Ordinary Injury
Was the harm serious bodily injury or bodily injury, which changes 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 Orange County?
Because every level is a felony, these cases move through the grand jury and district court stages in Orange County.
Arrest And Bond
After booking, a magistrate sets bond and conditions, which can bar contact with the child or person involved and with family members.
Grand Jury
Because every level is a felony, the case is presented to a grand jury, which can indict, indict a lesser charge or decline.
District Court
Arraignment, discovery under article 39.14, expert review, then a plea, dismissal or trial. A separate DFPS case may move in parallel.
- Where it is heard
- One of the county's three district courts: 128th District Court, 163rd District Court, and 260th District Court, after a grand jury indictment.
- Who prosecutes
- The Orange County District and County Attorney's Office.
- Who makes the arrest
- Orange Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Vidor Police Department, Bridge City Police Department, Pinehurst Police Department, or West Orange Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- The Orange County Correctional Facility at 205 S Border Street, run by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
- 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 conditions about contact with the child or person must be followed exactly.
Be Careful In The DFPS Case
Statements made to a caseworker can be used in the criminal case.
Collect Medical And Care Records
Records of the person's health and who cared for them can matter.
List Caregivers And Timelines
Write down who had care, and when, around the time of the injury.
Do Not Question The Child Or Person
Discussing 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.
Talk to a lawyer before giving statements to investigators or agencies. A felony charge in this category can affect custody, work and licensing as well as freedom. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about an injury to a child, elderly or disabled person charge in Orange 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 Orange 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 Orange, TX
Injury to a child or elderly person often arrives alongside family violence and protective order issues. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Orange.
Assault
Three different offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
A second degree felony built on serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon, and a first degree felony in a short list of situations.
Vehicular Assault
Not a Texas statute by that name. A crash that hurts someone is charged under one of four other laws, and which one decides the range.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless conduct that puts someone in danger is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing toward people, a home or a car is a third degree felony.
Family Violence
An assault charge with a family finding attached, which brings protective orders, a firearm ban and limits on sealing the record.
Kidnapping
Restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three steps on one ladder, and the step depends on intent and on what was done.
Terroristic Threats
A threat charge whose level depends on who was threatened and what the threat was meant to cause, from Class B to third degree felony.
Common Questions
Injury To A Child Questions People In Orange Ask
Is injury to a child a felony in Orange, TX?
Every level of injury to a child, elderly individual or disabled individual under Texas Penal Code § 22.04 is a felony. The lowest level, criminal negligence, is a state jail felony. Intentionally or knowingly causing serious bodily injury or serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury is a first degree felony, with a range of five to ninety-nine years or life.
What age counts as a child for injury to a child in Orange County?
Section 22.04 defines a child as a person 14 years of age or younger. An elderly individual is a person 65 years of age or older. A disabled individual is a person, of any age, who is substantially unable to protect themselves from harm or to provide food, shelter or medical care for themselves because of a physical or mental condition.
Can a parent be charged for not getting a child medical care in Orange, TX?
Section 22.04 allows a charge based on an omission, meaning a failure to act, when the person had a legal or statutory duty to act or had assumed care, custody or control of the child, elderly or disabled person. The statute allows an omission charge only with an intentional, knowing or reckless mental state. Criminal negligence supports a charge for an act, not for an omission.
Is spanking a child a crime in Orange County?
Penal Code § 9.61 makes the use of non-deadly force against a child younger than 18 justified when a parent, stepparent or person standing in place of a parent reasonably believes the force is necessary to discipline the child or safeguard their welfare. Whether that justification applies depends on the force used and the facts, and it is a question for the judge or jury.
Does an injury to a child charge in Orange, TX involve CPS?
An allegation involving a child can lead the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to open its own investigation, separate from the criminal case. That investigation follows civil procedures and deadlines of its own, and statements made in it can become evidence in the criminal case.
What does the state have to prove in an injury to a child case in Orange, TX?
The state has to prove that the person caused the injury by an act, or by an omission where a duty existed, that the person was a child, elderly or disabled individual as defined in the statute, and that the person acted with the required mental state. The level of the offense depends on whether the harm was serious bodily injury or bodily injury and on that mental state.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
A felony charge involving a child or an elderly relative can reach work, housing and family at once. Calling early leaves more of the options on the table.
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