Establishes legislation to protect children under the age of eighteen from inappropriate communication which creates the foreseeable risk of endangering the child's emotional, mental or physical welfare.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4145
SPONSOR: Tague TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to protecting children under
the age of eighteen from endangerment
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would extend protections offered under the existing "endanger-
ing the welfare of a child" statute from under the age of seventeen to
under the age of eighteen.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends Penal Law section 260.10, subdivision 1,
to protect children under the age of eighteen from endangerment.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The fiscal year 2018 budget included legislation to raise the age of
criminal responsibility to eighteen years of age. This change meant that
sixteen and seventeen year olds would be considered "adolescent offen-
ders" and would no longer be automatically charged as adults.
With that said, currently we have laws in place protecting young victims
that stop once a child turns seventeen years old. If we wish to have
fair and honest protection for all in our justice system, we must also
ensure that child victims are protected until eighteen as well.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024:A.2320 referred to Codes
2023:A.2320 referred to Codes
2022:A.3865 held for consideration in Codes
2021:A.3865 referred to Codes
2020:A.10144 referred to Codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become, a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4145
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TAGUE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to protecting children under
the age of eighteen from endangerment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 260.10 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 447 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. [He or she] Such person knowingly acts in a manner likely to be
5 injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than
6 [seventeen] eighteen years old or directs or authorizes such child to
7 engage in an occupation involving a substantial risk of danger to [his
8 or her] the life or health of such child; or
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
10 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06403-01-5
