Our client was charged with Reckless Endangerment of a Child in violation of violation of Massachusetts General Laws chapter 265 § 13L. The law punishes, “whoever wantonly or recklessly engages in conduct that creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child or wantonly or recklessly fails to take reasonable steps to alleviate such risk where there is a duty to act.” 

After doing our own investigation with the assistance of our client, we felt that there was no probable cause for our client to be charged. We drafted up a Motion to Dismiss and filed it with the court. We felt that even if everything the prosecution alleged was true, under the law, this behavior was not Reckless Endangerment of a Child. 

More specifically, we argued that our client's behavior was not “wanton or reckless behavior,”  which is defined under the law as follows: “when a person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his acts, or omissions where there is a duty to act, would result in serious bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard of the risk constitutes gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.” 

Our Motion to Dismiss was allowed. The charges against our client were dismissed. 

If you have been charged with Reckless Endangerment of a Child in Massachusetts, please do not hesitate to contact us today at 401-230-5520.