Alethea
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I think it depends. As you mentioned it can depend on the specific state law at issue and how that state has enforced and interpreted its laws in other cases.Question to the attorneys on this site. Looking at Oklahoma statutes and here is this clause that says a person cannot be punished for omission of a required act (in this case caring for a child) if someone, acting in their stead, is performing that function. I know there are other statutes that get real detailed on providing child medical care and child support, so those points may still be punishable, but does this particular paragraph protect the little girls' bio-parents, since they apparently had some type of agreement (verbal if nothing else) that the Adams were caretaking for the kids? I have not heard of any legal documents that would even allow for the medical treatment of the girls (i.e. POA or temporary guardianship papers that would give the Adams the ability to take them to a doctor). That seems like a punishable offense if they just left them with no papers to allow for their medical care, but, again, don't know if that's the case.
"§21-30. Failure to perform duty. No person is punishable for an omission to perform an act, where such act has been performed by another person acting in his behalf, and competent by law to perform it. R.L.1910, § 2801. "
Family law can be a bit lenient here because they want to encourage people to deal with their own issues without always involving the state. So take a common example: a young mom has a baby at 17. She lives with her parents. It seems reasonable and fine for that family to privately agree that the grandparents will take primary care of the grandchild until the mom graduates school and grows up a little. Would we want the mom charged or arrested if her parents, the legal grandparents, agreed and were providing great care for the baby? The hope would be that mom gets more involved and takes over as a great mom.
Absent a reported issue, the state is not going to police how we run our families. So I think that's how that statute has to be read.
If instead, in my example, that mom dropped her baby off at her friend's house, knowing her friend is a drug dealer and does not know how to care for children, no one is caring for the child. In that case, all parties may face charges. So I think it is not just intent but circumstance and outcome dependent too.