§ 40-11-2 - Definitions.
SECTION 40-11-2
§ 40-11-2 Definitions. – When used in this chapter and unless the specific context indicates otherwise:
(1) "Abused and/or neglected child" means a child whosephysical or mental health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm when hisor her parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare:
(i) Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the childphysical or mental injury, including excessive corporal punishment; or
(ii) Creates or allows to be created a substantial risk ofphysical or mental injury to the child, including excessive corporalpunishment; or
(iii) Commits or allows to be committed, against the child,an act of sexual abuse; or
(iv) Fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing,shelter, or medical care, though financially able to do so or offered financialor other reasonable means to do so; or
(v) Fails to provide the child with a minimum degree of careor proper supervision or guardianship because of his or her unwillingness orinability to do so by situations or conditions such as, but not limited to,social problems, mental incompetency, or the use of a drug, drugs, or alcoholto the extent that the parent or other person responsible for the child'swelfare loses his or her ability or is unwilling to properly care for thechild; or
(vi) Abandons or deserts the child; or
(vii) Sexually exploits the child in that the person allows,permits or encourages the child to engage in prostitution as defined by theprovisions in § 11-34-1 et seq., entitled "Prostitution and Lewdness"; or
(viii) Sexually exploits the child in that the person allows,permits, encourages or engages in the obscene or pornographic photographing,filming or depiction of the child in a setting which taken as a whole suggeststo the average person that the child is about to engage in or has engaged in,any sexual act, or which depicts any such child under eighteen (18) years ofage, performing sodomy, oral copulation, sexual intercourse, masturbation, orbestiality; or
(ix) Commits or allows to be committed any sexual offenseagainst the child as such sexual offenses are defined by the provisions ofchapter 37 of title 11, entitled "Sexual Assault", as amended; or
(x) Commits or allows to be committed against any child anact involving sexual penetration or sexual contact if the child is underfifteen (15) years of age; or if the child is fifteen (15) years or older, and(1) force or coercion is used by the perpetrator, or (2) the perpetrator knowsor has reason to know that the victim is a severely impaired person as definedby the provisions of § 11-5-11, or physically helpless as defined by theprovisions of § 11-37-6.
(2) "Child" means a person under the age of eighteen (18).
(3) "Child protective investigator" means an employee of thedepartment charged with responsibility for investigating complaints and/orreferrals of child abuse and/or neglect and institutional child abuse and/orneglect.
(4) "Department" means department of children, youth, andfamilies.
(5) "Institution" means any private or public hospital orother facility providing medical and/or psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, andcare.
(6) "Institutional child abuse and neglect" means situationsof known or suspected child abuse or neglect where the person allegedlyresponsible for the abuse or neglect is a foster parent or the employee of apublic or private residential child care institution or agency; or any staffperson providing out-of-home care or situations where the suspected abuse orneglect occurs as a result of the institution's practices, policies, orconditions.
(7) "Law enforcement agency" means the police department inany city or town and/or the state police.
(8) "Mental injury" includes a state of substantiallydiminished psychological or intellectual functioning in relation to, but notlimited to, such factors as: failure to thrive; ability to think or reason;control of aggressive or self-destructive impulses; acting-out or misbehavior,including incorrigibility, ungovernability, or habitual truancy; provided,however, that the injury must be clearly attributable to the unwillingness orinability of the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare toexercise a minimum degree of care toward the child.
(9) "Person responsible for child's welfare" means thechild's parent, guardian, any individual, eighteen (18) years of age or older,who resides in the home of a parent or guardian and has unsupervised access toa child, foster parent, an employee of a public or private residential home orfacility, or any staff person providing out-of-home care (out-of-home caremeans child day care to include family day care, group day care, andcenter-based day care). Provided further that an individual, eighteen (18)years of age or older, who resides in the home of a parent or guardian and hasunsupervised access to the child, shall not have the right to consent to theremoval and examination of the child for the purposes of § 40-11-6.
(10) "Physician" means any licensed doctor of medicine,licensed osteopathic physician, and any physician, intern, or resident of aninstitution as defined in subdivision (5).
(11) "Probable cause" means facts and circumstances basedupon as accurate and reliable information as possible that would justify areasonable person to suspect that a child is abused or neglected. The facts andcircumstances may include evidence of an injury or injuries, and the statementsof a person worthy of belief, even if there is no present evidence of injury.
(12) "Shaken baby syndrome" means a form of abusive headtrauma, characterized by a constellation of symptoms caused by other thanaccidental traumatic injury resulting from the violent shaking of and/or impactupon an infant or young child's head.