§ Article 119b : Child Endangerment

Article 119b of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 919b) punishes a person with a duty of care for a child under 16 who, through design or culpable negligence, endangers that child’s mental or physical health, safety, or welfare.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who has a duty for the care of a child under the age of 16, and who, through design or culpable negligence, endangers that child’s mental or physical health, safety, or welfare.

What It Covers

1. The accused had a duty for the care of a certain child.
2. The child was under 16.
3. The accused endangered the child’s mental or physical health, safety, or welfare through design or culpable negligence.

Key rules

• Design means on purpose, intentionally, or according to plan, and requires a specific intent to endanger the child.
• Culpable negligence is carelessness greater than simple negligence, accompanied by a culpable disregard for foreseeable consequences to others. Relevant factors include the child’s age and maturity, the conditions of the neglect, how near assistance was, the environment the child was left in, the provisions made for care, and where the responsible adult was relative to the child.
• Endanger means to subject the child to a reasonable probability of harm. Actual harm is not required; the conduct must reasonably have been able to cause physical or mental harm. If actual harm or grievous bodily harm results, the maximum punishment increases.
• Age matters to the culpable negligence determination: under the Manual, leaving a teenager alone for an evening may not be negligent, while leaving an infant or toddler for the same time might be culpably negligent.
• Duty of care is determined from the totality of the circumstances and may arise from statute, regulation, a legal parent-child relationship, mutual agreement, or assuming control or custody. Without a duty of care, there is no offense.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• By design, resulting in grievous bodily harm: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years.
• By design, resulting in harm: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.
• Other cases by design: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 4 years.
• By culpable negligence, resulting in grievous bodily harm: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.
• By culpable negligence, resulting in harm: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.
• Other cases by culpable negligence: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.

Sentencing parameters.

• By design, resulting in grievous bodily harm: Category 3 (30–120 months), with a recommended maximum of 96 months.
• By design, resulting in harm, and other cases by design: Category 2 (1–36 months).
• By culpable negligence, resulting in grievous bodily harm: Category 2 (1–36 months).
• By culpable negligence, resulting in harm: Category 2 (1–36 months), with a recommended maximum of 24 months.
• Other cases by culpable negligence: Category 1 (0–12 months).

The newer sentencing rules apply, subject to the capital-case rules, when the accused is convicted only of offenses committed after 27 December 2023. See How UCMJ Sentencing Rules Apply. The maximum authorized punishment and the applicable sentencing framework do not predict the sentence in a particular case.

Related and Distinguished

Child endangerment requires a duty of care and does not require an intent to injure. Offenses involving an act against the child are addressed by Article 128, which authorizes a higher maximum punishment for assault on a child under 16, and by Article 120b.

What the Provision Does

Article 119b applies only to a person with a duty of care for a child under 16, and it does not require an intent to injure. The maximum confinement depends on whether the endangerment was by design or by culpable negligence and on the harm that resulted, from 1 to 8 years.

History

Article 119b was added to the UCMJ by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5429), effective January 1, 2019. Before then, child endangerment was charged as an enumerated offense under Article 134.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 919b (Article 119b, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 59
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C