Montana § 45-5-628 - Criminal Child Endangerment

§ 45-5-628. Criminal Child Endangerment

Criminal child endangerment. (1) A person commits the offense of criminal child endangerment if the person purposely, knowingly, or negligently causes substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to a child under 14 years of age by: (a) failing to seek reasonable medical care for a child suffering from an apparent acute life-threatening condition; (b) placing a child in the physical custody of another who the person knows has previously purposely or knowingly caused bodily injury to a child; (c) placing a child in the physical custody of another who the person knows has previously committed an offense against the child under 45-5-502 or 45-5-503 ; (d) manufacturing or distributing dangerous drugs in a place where a child is present; (e) operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or dangerous drugs in violation of 61-8-1002 or committing aggravated driving under the influence as defined in 61-8-1001 with a child in the vehicle; or (f) failing to attempt to provide proper nutrition for a child, resulting in a medical diagnosis of nonorganic failure to thrive. (2) A person may not be charged under subsection (1)(b) or (1)(c) if the person placed the child in the other person's custody pursuant to a court order. (3) A person convicted of the offense of criminal child endangerment shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000 or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 10 years, or both. (4) For purposes of this section, "nonorganic failure to thrive" means inadequate physical growth that is a result of insufficient nutrition and is not secondary to a diagnosed medical condition.