Bill > H1507

This bill amends existing Massachusetts law to establish new penalties for parents, legal guardians, or caretakers who fail to report certain situations involving children. Specifically, it creates penalties for those who know about child abuse or neglect, or an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death to a child under their care, and do not report it to the state or local police within 12 hours, or fail to arrange for medical care by a licensed professional in cases of serious injury. The bill also introduces penalties for failing to immediately report a child under 13 who has been missing for more than 24 hours, with a more severe penalty if the child is later found deceased. The penalties for these failures to report range from fines up to $7,500 to imprisonment for up to 5 or 10 years, depending on the severity of the situation.