Battery v. Child Abuse

Hi. CACI lawyer Tate Lounsbery here with another CACI quick tip. I wanted to discuss battery versus child abuse. I was having a conversation a while back with an attorney and we were going over a hypothetical. It wasn’t really clear in this attorney’s mind that battery does not equal, necessarily, child abuse, and the reverse is also true. Child abuse does not equal, necessarily, a battery.

It is possible to commit a battery on a child, the crime of a battery on a child without committing child abuse. Did you know that? Also, it is possible to commit the crime of battery on a child without committing child abuse, and it’s possible to commit child abuse without committing a battery.

Those two terms, under the law, are not synonymous. It’s important for you to know that because the CPS agency that’s investigating you might not know that, and if they don’t, then you need to. Depending on your case, it could play an important role in the strategy and how you’re going to defend yourself.

Keep that in mind. Battery does not equal child abuse, and child abuse does not equal battery.

That is your CACI quick tip for the day.