Tex.
Penal Code Section 22.04
Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual
(a)
A person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, by act or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly by omission, causes to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual:(1)
serious bodily injury;(2)
serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury; or(3)
bodily injury.(a-1)
A person commits an offense if the person is an owner, operator, or employee of a group home, nursing facility, assisted living facility, boarding home facility, intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual or developmental disability, or other institutional care facility and the person intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence by omission causes to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual who is a resident of that group home or facility:(1)
serious bodily injury;(2)
serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury; or(3)
bodily injury.(b)
An omission that causes a condition described by Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3) or (a-1)(1), (2), or (3) is conduct constituting an offense under this section if:(1)
the actor has a legal or statutory duty to act; or(2)
the actor has assumed care, custody, or control of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.(c)
In this section:(1)
“Child” means a person 14 years of age or younger.(2)
“Elderly individual” means a person 65 years of age or older.(3)
“Disabled individual” means a person:(A)
with one or more of the following:(i)
autism spectrum disorder, as defined by Section 1355.001 (Definitions), Insurance Code;(ii)
developmental disability, as defined by Section 112.042 (Definitions), Human Resources Code;(iii)
intellectual disability, as defined by Section 591.003 (Definitions), Health and Safety Code;(iv)
severe emotional disturbance, as defined by Section 261.001 (Definitions), Family Code;(v)
traumatic brain injury, as defined by Section 92.001 (Definitions), Health and Safety Code; or(vi)
mental illness, as defined by Section 571.003 (Definitions), Health and Safety Code; or(B)
who otherwise by reason of age or physical or mental disease, defect, or injury is substantially unable to protect the person’s self from harm or to provide food, shelter, or medical care for the person’s self.(4)
Repealed by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 620, Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2011.(d)
For purposes of an omission that causes a condition described by Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3), the actor has assumed care, custody, or control if the actor has by act, words, or course of conduct acted so as to cause a reasonable person to conclude that the actor has accepted responsibility for protection, food, shelter, or medical care for a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual. For purposes of an omission that causes a condition described by Subsection (a-1)(1), (2), or (3), the actor acting during the actor’s capacity as owner, operator, or employee of a group home or facility described by Subsection (a-1) is considered to have accepted responsibility for protection, food, shelter, or medical care for the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual who is a resident of the group home or facility.(e)
An offense under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) or (a-1)(1) or (2) is a felony of the first degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly. When the conduct is engaged in recklessly, the offense is a felony of the second degree.(f)
An offense under Subsection (a)(3) or (a-1)(3) is a felony of the third degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly, except that an offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a felony of the second degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly and the victim is a disabled individual residing in a center, as defined by Section 555.001 (Definitions), Health and Safety Code, or in a facility licensed under Chapter 252 (Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability), Health and Safety Code, and the actor is an employee of the center or facility whose employment involved providing direct care for the victim. When the conduct is engaged in recklessly, the offense is a state jail felony.(g)
An offense under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony when the person acts with criminal negligence. An offense under Subsection (a-1) is a state jail felony when the person, with criminal negligence and by omission, causes a condition described by Subsection (a-1)(1), (2), or (3).(h)
A person who is subject to prosecution under both this section and another section of this code may be prosecuted under either or both sections. Section 3.04 (Severance) does not apply to criminal episodes prosecuted under both this section and another section of this code. If a criminal episode is prosecuted under both this section and another section of this code and sentences are assessed for convictions under both sections, the sentences shall run concurrently.(i)
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(2) that before the offense the actor:(1)
notified in person the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual that the actor would no longer provide the applicable care described by Subsection (d), and notified in writing the parents or a person, other than the actor, acting in loco parentis to the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual that the actor would no longer provide the applicable care described by Subsection (d); or(2)
notified in writing the Department of Family and Protective Services that the actor would no longer provide the applicable care described by Subsection (d).(j)
Written notification under Subsection (i)(2) or (i)(3) is not effective unless it contains the name and address of the actor, the name and address of the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual, the type of care provided by the actor, and the date the care was discontinued.(k)
It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the act or omission consisted of:(1)
reasonable medical care occurring under the direction of or by a licensed physician; or(2)
emergency medical care administered in good faith and with reasonable care by a person not licensed in the healing arts.(l)
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section:(1)
that the act or omission was based on treatment in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized religious method of healing with a generally accepted record of efficacy;(2)
for a person charged with an act of omission causing to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual a condition described by Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3) that:(A)
there is no evidence that, on the date prior to the offense charged, the defendant was aware of an incident of injury to the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual and failed to report the incident; and(B)
the person:(i)
was a victim of family violence, as that term is defined by Section 71.004 (Family Violence), Family Code, committed by a person who is also charged with an offense against the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual under this section or any other section of this title;(ii)
did not cause a condition described by Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3); and(iii)
did not reasonably believe at the time of the omission that an effort to prevent the person also charged with an offense against the child, elderly individual, or disabled individual from committing the offense would have an effect; or(3)
that:(A)
the actor was not more than three years older than the victim at the time of the offense; and(B)
the victim was a nondisabled or disabled child at the time of the offense.(m)
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsections (a)(1), (2), and (3) for injury to a disabled individual that the person did not know and could not reasonably have known that the individual was a disabled individual, as defined by Subsection (c), at the time of the offense.
Source:
Section 22.04 — Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.22.htm#22.04 (accessed May 26, 2025).
