West Virginia Code § 49-1-201

Definitions related, but not limited to, child abuse and neglect
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When used in this chapter, terms defined in this section have the meanings ascribed to them
that relate to, but are not limited to, child abuse and neglect, except in those instances
where a different meaning is provided or the context in which the word is used clearly
indicates that a different meaning is intended.
"Abandonment" means any conduct that demonstrates the settled purpose to forego the
duties and parental responsibilities to the child;
"Abused child" means: u
(1) A child whose health or welfare is being harmed or threatened by:
(A) A parent, guardian, or custodian who knowingly ora intentionally inflicts, attempts to
inflict, or knowingly allows another person to inflict, physical injury or mental or emotional
injury upon the child or another child in the home. lPhysical injury may include an injury to
the child as a result of excessive corporal punishment;
(B) Sexual abuse or sexual exploitation;
(C) The sale or attempted sale of a child by a parent, guardian, or custodian in violation of
§61-2-14h of this code;
(D) Domestic violence as defined in §48-27-202 of this code; or
(E) Human trafficking or attempted human trafficking in violation of §61-14-2 of this code.
(2) A child conceived as a result of sexual assault, as that term is defined in this section, or
as a result of the violation of a criminal law of another jurisdiction which has the same
essential elements: Provided, That no victim of sexual assault may be determined to be an
abuWsive parent as that term is defined in this section, based upon being a victim of sexual
assault.
"Abusing parent" means a parent, guardian, or other custodian, regardless of his or her age,
whose conduct has been adjudicated by the court to constitute child abuse or neglect as
alleged in the petition charging child abuse or neglect.
"Battered parent" for the purposes of §49-4-601 et seq. of this code means a respondent
parent, guardian, or other custodian who has been adjudicated by the court to have not
condoned the abuse or neglect and has not been able to stop the abuse or neglect of the
child or children due to being the victim of domestic violence as defined by §48-27-202 of
this code, which was perpetrated by the same person or persons determined to have abused
or neglected the child or children.
"Child abuse and neglect" or "child abuse or neglect" means any act or omission that creates
an abused child or a neglected child as those terms are defined in this section.
"Child abuse and neglect services" means social services which are directed toward:
(A) Protecting and promoting the welfare of children who are abused or neglected;
(B) Identifying, preventing, and remedying conditions which cause child abuse and neglect;
(C) Preventing the unnecessary removal of children from their families by identifying family
problems and assisting families in resolving problems which could lead to a removal of
children and a breakup of the family;
(D) In cases where children have been removed from their families, providing time-limited
reunification services to the children and the families so as to reunify those children with
their families, or some portion of the families; a
(E) Placing children in suitable adoptive homes when reunifying the children with their
families, or some portion of the families, is not possible or appropriate; and
(F) Assuring the adequate care of children or juveniles who have been placed in the custody
of the department or third parties.
"Condition requiring emergency medical treatment" means a condition which, if left
untreated for a period of a fewe hours, may result in permanent physical damage; that
condition includes, but is not limited to, profuse or arterial bleeding, dislocation or fracture,
unconsciousness, and evLidence of ingestion of significant amounts of a poisonous substance.
"Imminent danger to the physical well-being of the child" means an emergency situation in
which the welfare or the life of the child is threatened. These conditions may include an
emergency situation when there is reasonable cause to believe that any child in the home is
or has been sexually abused or sexually exploited, or reasonable cause to believe that the
folloWwing conditions threaten the health, life, or safety of any child in the home:
(A) Nonaccidental trauma inflicted by a parent, guardian, custodian, sibling, babysitter, or
other caretaker;
(B) A combination of physical and other signs indicating a pattern of abuse which may be
medically diagnosed as battered child syndrome;
(C) Nutritional deprivation;
(D) Abandonment by the parent, guardian, or custodian;
(E) Inadequate treatment of serious illness or disease;
(F) Substantial emotional injury inflicted by a parent, guardian, or custodian;
(G) Sale or attempted sale of the child by the parent, guardian, or custodian;
(H) The parent, guardian, or custodian's abuse of alcohol or drugs or other controlled
substance as defined in §60A-1-101 of this code, has impaired his or her parenting skills to a
degree as to pose an imminent risk to a child's health or safety; or
(I) Any other condition that threatens the health, life or safety of any child in the home.
"Neglected child" means a child:
(A) Whose physical or mental health is harmed or threatened by a present refusal, failure or
inability of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to supply the child with necessary food,
clothing, shelter, supervision, medical care, or education, when that refusal, failure, or
inability is not due primarily to a lack of financial means on the part of the parent, guardian,
or custodian; a
(B) Who is presently without necessary food, clothilng, shelter, medical care, education, or
supervision because of the disappearance or absence of the child's parent or custodian; or
(C) "Neglected child" does not mean a child whose education is conducted within the
provisions of §18-8-1 et seq. of this code.
"Parent Resource Navigator" means an individual established through the Court
Improvement Program (CIP) or Public Defender Services (PDS) model who is assisting a
parent or parents through requirements to be unified or reunified with their child or
children.
"Petitioner or copetit ioner" means the department or any reputable person who files a child
abuse or neglect petition pursuant to §49-4-601 et seq. of this code.
"Permanency plan" means the part of the case plan which is designed to achieve a
perWmanent home for the child in the least restrictive setting available.
"Respondent" means all parents, guardians, and custodians identified in the child abuse and
neglect petition who are not petitioners or copetitioners.
"Sexual abuse" means:
(A) Sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion, sexual contact, or conduct proscribed by §61-8c-3 of
this code, which a parent, guardian, or custodian engages in, attempts to engage in, or
knowingly procures another person to engage in, with a child notwithstanding the fact that
for a child who is less than 16 years of age, the child may have willingly participated in that
conduct or the child may have suffered no apparent physical, mental, or emotional injury as
a result of that conduct or, for a child 16 years of age or older, the child may have consented
to that conduct or the child may have suffered no apparent physical injury or mental, or
emotional injury as a result of that conduct;
(B) Any conduct where a parent, guardian, or custodian displays his or her sex organs to a
child, or procures another person to display his or her sex organs to a child, for the purpose
of gratifying the sexual desire of the parent, guardian, or custodian, of the person making
that display, or of the child, or for the purpose of affronting or alarming the child; or
(C) Any of the offenses proscribed in §61-8b-7, §61-8b-8, or §61-8b-9 of this code.
"Sexual assault" means any of the offenses proscribed in §61-8b-3, §61-8b-4, or §61-8b-5 of
this code.
"Sexual contact" means sexual contact as that term is defined inu §61-8b-1 of this code.
"Sexual exploitation" means an act where:
(A) A parent, custodian, or guardian, whether for finanacial gain or not, persuades, induces,
entices, or coerces a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct as that term is defined in
§61-8c-1 of this code; l
(B) A parent, guardian, or custodian persuades, induces, entices, or coerces a child to
display his or her sex organs for the sexual gratification of the parent, guardian, custodian,
or a third person, or to display his or her sex organs under circumstances in which the
parent, guardian, or custodian knows that the display is likely to be observed by others who
would be affronted or alarmed; or
(C) A parent, guardian, or custodian knowingly maintains or makes available a child for the
purpose of engaging the child in commercial sexual activity in violation of §61-14-5 of this
code.
"Sexual intercourse" means sexual intercourse as that term is defined in §61-8b-1 of this
code.
"SeWxual intrusion" means sexual intrusion as that term is defined in §61-8b-1 of this code.
"Serious physical abuse" means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death,
causes serious or prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged
loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ.

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