AGO 81-020.

• Case Date: March 04, 1981
• Court: North Dakota

North Dakota Attorney General Opinions 1981. AGO 81-020. OPINION 81-20Date Issued: March 4, 1981 (AGO 81-20) Requested by: T. N. Tangedahl, Executive Director, Social Service Board of North Dakota- QUESTIONS PRESENTED - Whether an act, or failure to act, by a person responsible for a child's welfare, which allows, permits, or encourages a child to engage in prostitution or be subjected to other sexual abuses such as rape, molestation, or incest, constitutes child abuse or neglect which is subject to the reporting requirements of chapter 50-25.1 of the North Dakota Century Code. Whether an act, or failure to act, by a person responsible for a child's welfare, which allows, permits, or encourages a child to engage in the obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of the child for commercial purposes or otherwise, constitutes child abuse or neglect which is subject to the reporting requirements of chapter 50-25.1, N.D.C.C.- ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION - It is my opinion that an act, or failure to act, by a person responsible for a child's welfare, which allows, permits, or encourages a child to engage in prostitution or be subjected to other sexual abuses such as rape, molestation, or incest, does constitute child abuse or neglect and is subject to the reporting requirements of chapter 50-25.1, N.D.C.C. It is my further opinion that an act, or failure to act, by a person responsible for a child's welfare, which allows, permits, or encourages a child to engage in the obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of the child for commercial purposes or otherwise, does constitute child abuse and neglect and is subject to the reporting requirements of chapter 50-25.1, N.D.C.C. - ANALYSIS - Chapter 50-25.1, N.D.C.C., deals with child abuse and neglect and is designed to protect the health and welfare of children by the reporting of child abuse and neglect. Section 50-25.1 -04(4)(b), N.D.C.C., includes as "harm" to a child, the committing, allowing to be committed, or the conspiring to commit, against a child, a sex offense as defined in chapter 12.1-20, N.D.C.C. The acts of prostitution and other sexual abuses such as rape, molestation, or incest are defined as criminal acts in chapters 12.1-20 and 12.1-29, N.D.C.C. The definitions of "sexual act" and "sexual contact" are defined in sections 12.1-20-02...