Connecticut § 53-21a - Leaving child unsupervised in place of public accommodation or motor vehicle. Failure to report disappearance of a child.

§ 53-21a. Leaving child unsupervised in place of public accommodation or motor vehicle. Failure to report disappearance of a child.

Sec. 53-21a. Leaving child unsupervised in place of public accommodation or motor vehicle. Failure to report disappearance of a child. (Revisor's note: This electronic version of this section includes subsections (b) to (d) which were omitted in error from the 2025 printed version.) (a)(1) Any parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of any child under the age of twelve years who knowingly leaves such child unsupervised in a place of public accommodation or a motor vehicle for a period of time that presents a substantial risk to the child's health or safety, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

(2) In determining whether an action constitutes a violation of this subsection, (A) consideration shall be given to whether or not the parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of a child under the age of twelve years exercised judgment that a reasonable person would use in determining whether the child was of sufficient age, maturity, physical ability and mental ability to be unsupervised under the circumstances, and (B) no finding of substantial risk may be based solely on a parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of such child allowing such child's participation in independent activities, including, but not limited to, traveling to and from school, traveling to and from commercial or recreational facilities located near such child's home and unsupervised outdoor play, provided such child is of sufficient age, maturity, physical ability and mental ability to engage in such activities and the child's participation would not lead a reasonable person to believe that such participation creates an obvious danger to the child's safety.

(b) Any parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of any child under the age of twelve years who knowingly leaves such child unsupervised in a place of public accommodation, which holds a permit issued under chapter 545 for the sale of alcoholic liquor for consumption on the premises, for a period of time that presents a substantial risk to the child's health or safety, shall be guilty of a class D felony.

(c) Any parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of any child under the age of twelve years who knowingly leaves such child unsupervised in a place of public accommodation or a motor vehicle between the hours of eight o'clock p.m. and six o'clock a.m. for a period of time that presents a substantial risk to the child's health or safety, shall be guilty of a class C felony.

(d) Any parent, guardian or person having custody or control, or providing supervision, of any child under the age of twelve years who knowingly fails to report the disappearance of such child to an appropriate law enforcement agency shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. For the purposes of this subsection, “disappearance of such child” means that the parent, guardian or person does not know the location of the child and has not had contact with the child for a twenty-four-hour period.

(P.A. 97-298; P.A. 12-112, S. 1; P.A. 23-176, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 12-112 added Subsec. (d) re failure to report disappearance of a child; P.A. 23-176 amended Subsec. (a) by redesignating existing Subsec. (a) as Subsec. (a)(1) and adding Subdiv. (2) re determination of whether an action violates subsection; (Revisor's note: Subsecs. (b) to (d) were inadvertently omitted from publication in the 2024 Supplement and the General Statutes, Revised to January 1, 2025, and have been editorially restored by the Revisors).