Parental privilege protection- Fairfax criminal lawyer says to discuss PPP with your attorney when charged with assaulting or being cruel to your child

Parental privilege protection (PPP) is important for you to discuss with your attorney if prosecuted in Virginia for allegedly assaulting or committing cruelty to your child. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the law of the commonwealth provides wide ranging PPP to physically discipline and otherwise treat one’s children. This PPP protection is not unlimited. Moreover, PPP will not bar a prosecution versus being available as a defense, nor the feeling of being on pins and needles about whether one’s physical or other discipline of their children will get them into hot water in criminal court. Overcovering risk is the ideal way to avoid a prosecution and conviction in the first place. While Virginia law provides a range of discretion for how parents will discipline and bring up their children, it goes without saying that never striking one’s child reduces the risk of being prosecuted and convicted for assault.

What is child assault? What is child cruelty?

Before we consider parental privilege protection defenses, the Virginia assault definition is the same whether the alleged victim is one’s child, someone else’s child, or an adult. Assault means the unlawful and nonconsensual touching of another. The possible defenses against a Virginia assault prosecution are that the defendant had the privilege to engage in such conduct, the event did not happen, someone else committed the offense (also known with the acronym SODDI, or some other dude did it; and we also have TODDI, the other dude did it); the act was consensual; the defendant acted in lawful and proportional self defense; or the defendant acted in lawful and proportional defense of others.

Further on parental privilege protection defense Virginia’s child cruelty statute provides: ” It shall be unlawful for any person employing or having the custody of any child willfully or negligently to cause or permit the life of such child to be endangered or the health of such child to be injured, or willfully or negligently to cause or permit such child to be placed in a situation that its life, health or morals may be endangered, or to cause or permit such child to be overworked, tortured, tormented, mutilated, beaten or cruelly treated. Any person violating this section is guilty of a Class 6 felony.” Virginia Code § 40.1-103.

Virginia’s Court of Appeals confirms that parental privilege protection defenses apply to all parental supervision of their children

Lorenzo Marshall treated his eleven-year-old son very firmly — which is very much an understatement — when discovering that his minor son had tossed his medicine into the trash. Marshall v. Commonwealth of Virginia, Record No. 1026-23-3 (Nov. 26, 2024) (unpublished). Marshall verbally grilled his son (calling it tormented is fair) for a long time, recorded on his home’s recording device. Marshall lifted and shook his son, slapped his face, and three times slapped his bare buttocks. Marshall is fortunate that his bench trial judge acquitted him of assault. The trial judge “did not find any evidence of ‘significant harm, distinguished from transient pain or temporary minor marks.’ Woodson v. Commonwealth, 74 Va. App. 686, 699 (2022). In the absence of significant harm, the circuit court weighed ‘the nature of the child’s alleged misconduct against the nature of the discipline imposed by the parent.’… Within this context, and after examining the ‘totality of the evidence,’ the court found that Marshall’s conduct fell under the privilege as it related to Code § 18.2-57.2.” Marshall. Therefore, Marshall succeeded against his assault charge on the parental privilege protection defense, where no such defense would have succeeded had Marhsall’s alleged victim not been his child.

Marshall’s alleged mistreatment of his child went far beyond his alleged assaultive behavior to a barrage of verbal taunts and, arguably, making his son not feel free to leave the situation. Regardless of how much any such taunting is First Amendment protected, Marshall’s declines to address — finding them waived — Marhsall’s appellate arguments of unconstitutional vagueness and overbreadth in the Virginia child cruelty statute. Nonetheless, Marshall reverses his child cruelty conviction so that the trial court may decide whether the parental privilege protection allows such a conviction against Marshall.

What should I do if prosecuted for assault of my child, or of child cruelty?

Prosecutions for alleged mistreatment of your children are serious and can be scarlet letters if convicted. Do not be overly confident nor underconfident about your parental privilege protection defense. Do not delay in finding and obtaining the best possible Virginia assault lawyer for you. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz has successfully defended hundreds of assault defendants, including many charged with assaulting their children. Jon Katz fully defends you to the hilt, without judging you and with a single-minded focus on obtaining your best possible result in court, within the bounds of the law. \

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz pursues your best defense against Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI prosecutions. For your free in-person confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending prosecution, call 703-383-1100, info@BeatTheProsecution.com  , and (text) 571-406-7268.