Physical Abuse - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
'Abuse' means:

• Nonaccidental harm of a child
• Threatened harm of a child
• Sexual exploitation or sexual abuse

'Abused child' means a child who has been subjected to abuse.

'Physical abuse' means abuse that results in physical injury or damage to a child.

'Severe abuse' means abuse that causes or threatens to cause serious harm to a child.

Neglect - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
'Neglect' means:

• Lack of proper parental care of a child by reason of the fault or habits of the parent, guardian, or custodian
• Failure or refusal of a parent, guardian, or custodian to provide proper or necessary subsistence, education, or medical care, or any other care necessary for the child's health, safety, morals, or well-being
• A child at risk of being neglected or abused because another child in the same home is neglected or abused

'Neglected child' means a child who has been subjected to neglect.

'Severe neglect' means neglect that causes or threatens to cause serious harm to a child.

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
'Sexual abuse' means:

• An act or attempted act of sexual intercourse, sodomy, incest, or molestation directed toward a child
• Engaging in any conduct with a child that would constitute an offense under any of the following terms, regardless of whether the person who engages in the conduct is actually charged with, or convicted of, the offense:
  • Any sexual offense
  • Child bigamy
  • Incest
  • Lewdness or sexual battery
  • Lewdness involving a child
  • Voyeurism

'Sexual exploitation' means knowingly:

• Employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing any child to:
  • Pose in the nude for the purpose of sexual arousal of any person
  • Engage in any sexual or simulated sexual conduct for the purpose of photographing, filming, recording, or displaying in any way the sexual or simulated sexual conduct
• Displaying, distributing, possessing for the purpose of distribution, or selling material depicting a child:
  • In the nude, for the purpose of sexual arousal of any person
  • Engaging in sexual or simulated sexual conduct
• Engaging in conduct that would constitute an offense under Title 76, Chapter 5a, Sexual Exploitation of Children, regardless of whether the person who engages in the conduct is actually charged with, or convicted of, the offense

'Incest' means engaging in sexual intercourse with a person whom the perpetrator knows to be his or her ancestor, descendant, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or first cousin. This includes relationships of:

• The whole or half blood, without regard to legitimacy
• Parent and child by adoption
• Stepparent and stepchild while the marriage creating the relationship exists

Emotional Abuse - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
'Harm' means physical, emotional, or developmental injury or damage.

Abandonment - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
The term 'neglect' includes abandonment of a child, except as provided in Title 62A, Chapter 4a, Part 8, Safe Relinquishment of a Newborn Child.

Standards for Reporting - Citation: Ann. Code § 62A-4a-403
A report is required when there is reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect.

Persons Responsible for the Child - Citation: Ann. Code § 62A-4a-402
'A person responsible for a child's care' means the child's parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's care, whether in the same home as the child; a relative's home; a group, family, or center daycare facility; a foster care home; or a residential institution.

Exceptions - Citation: Ann. Code § 78A-6-105
The term 'abuse' does not include:

• Reasonable discipline or management of a child, including withholding privileges
• The use of reasonable and necessary physical restraint or force on a child in self-defense, in defense of others, to protect the child, or to remove a weapon in the possession of a child in self-defense or defense of others

A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs and who, for that reason, does not provide specified medical treatment for a child, is not guilty of neglect. A health-care decision made for a child by the child's parent or guardian does not constitute neglect unless the State or other party to the proceeding shows by clear and convincing evidence that the health-care decision is not reasonable and informed. Nothing in this subsection may prohibit a parent or guardian from exercising the right to obtain a second health-care opinion.