{"data":{"id":"us-mt/45-5-628","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"45-5-628","heading":"Criminal child endangerment.","body":"(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:\n(a) failing to seek reasonable medical care for a child suffering from an apparent acute life-threatening condition;\n(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;\n(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;\n(d) manufacturing or distributing dangerous drugs in a place where a child is present;\n(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\n(f) failing to attempt to provide proper nutrition for a child, resulting in a medical diagnosis of nonorganic failure to thrive.\n(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.\n(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.\n(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.","path":["TITLE 45. CRIMES","CHAPTER 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON","Part 6. Offenses Against the Family"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0450/chapter_0050/part_0060/section_0280/0450-0050-0060-0280.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:55:31Z","sha256":"ce131366a21c7f1f69e1f2c987999cf04683b856ab85050f31a23aa5f0dfd6b0","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/45-5-627","next":"us-mt/45-5-629"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}