The defense argued the children weren’t mentally or physically harmed, making it not child abuse as defined by the statute.
The judge called this an “extraordinary case, extraordinary circumstances.”
The judge then ruled that Bryant will be bound over for trial on the child abuse and welfare fraud charges.
A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
The Oakland County mom accused of abandoning her kids and forcing them to live alone in filthy conditions for years is now heading to trial.
www.clickondetroit.com
um . . . the defense attorney should read further into the statute than just
750.136b Definitions; child abuse; degrees; penalties; exception; affirmative defense; enhanced sentence; "prior conviction" defined.
Sec. 136b.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Child" means a person who is less than 18 years of age and is not emancipated by operation of law as provided in section 4 of 1968 PA 293, MCL 722.4.
(b) "Cruel" means brutal, inhuman, sadistic, or that which torments.
(c) "Omission" means a willful failure to provide food, clothing, or shelter necessary for a child's welfare or willful abandonment of a child.
(d) "Person" means a child's parent or guardian or any other person who cares for, has custody of, or has authority over a child regardless of the length of time that a child is cared for, in the custody of, or subject to the authority of that person.
(e) "Physical harm" means any injury to a child's physical condition.
(f) "Serious physical harm" means any physical injury to a child that seriously impairs the child's health or physical well-being, including, but not limited to, brain damage, a skull or bone fracture, subdural hemorrhage or hematoma, dislocation, sprain, internal injury, poisoning, burn or scald, or severe cut.
(g) "Serious mental harm" means an injury to a child's mental condition or welfare that is not necessarily permanent but results in visibly demonstrable manifestations of a substantial disorder of thought or mood which significantly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of life.
MCL - Section 750.136b - Michigan Legislature
Citation: Comp. Laws §§ 722.622; 722.628(3)(c); 750.136b(1)
Effective November 1, 2022: '
Child abuse' means harm or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare that occurs through nonaccidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or maltreatment by a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare or by a teacher, a teacher's aide, a member of the clergy, or an individual aged 18 or older who is involved with a youth program.
[snip]
Citation: Comp. Laws § 722.622
'Child neglect' means harm or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare by a parent, legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare that occurs through either of the following:
- Negligent treatment, including the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, though financially able to do so, or by the failure to seek financial or other reasonable means to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care
- Placing a child at an unreasonable risk to the child's health or welfare by failure to intervene to eliminate that risk when the parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for the child's health or welfare can do so and has, or should have, knowledge of the risk
https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect-michigan/#:~:text=Effective%20November%201%2C%202022%3A%20',or%20welfare%20or%20by%20a
