Iowa Child Endangerment Law Changes

As mentioned in one of my previous blogs, a “child” under Iowa’s child endangerment law is any person under 18 years of age.

Under Iowa Code Section 726.6(2) (Child Endangerment Law), a person who is the parent, guardian, or person having custody or control over a child, or a person who is a member of the household in which a child resides, commits child endangerment when the person does any of the following:

Our child endangerment law defines a “person having control over a child” as any of the following:

1. A person who has accepted, undertaken, or assumed supervision of a child from the parent or guardian of the child.
2. A person who has undertaken or assumed temporary supervision of a child without explicit consent from the parent or guardian of the child.
3. A person who operates a motor vehicle with a child present in the vehicle.

In other words, a person could actually be convicted of child endangerment involving someone who is older than them! A prime example of this would be a 16-year-old high school student who is driving drunk with their 17-year-old friend.

In Iowa, the child endangerment law applies to everyone, regardless of age. It’s just nuts to think that a person can be convicted, and potentially placed on the child abuse registry, for someone who is older than them.