Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect - Montana

Date: June 2025

Physical Abuse
Citation: Ann. Code §§ 41-3-102; 45-2-101(66)

Effective October 1, 2025: 'Abused or neglected' means the state or condition of a child who has suffered child abuse or neglect.

'Physical abuse' means an intentional act, an intentional omission, or gross negligence resulting in substantial skin bruising, internal bleeding, substantial injury to skin, subdural hematoma, burns, bone fractures, extreme pain, permanent or temporary disfigurement, impairment of any bodily organ or function, or death. 

'Child abuse or neglect' means any of the following: 

  • Actual physical or psychological harm to a child
  • Substantial risk of physical or psychological harm to a child
  • Abandonment 

The term includes the following:

  • Actual physical or psychological harm to a child, or substantial risk of physical or psychological harm to a child, by the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the child's welfare
  • Exposing a child to the criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, the criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs, or the operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory
  • Any form of child sex trafficking or human trafficking 

'Physical or psychological harm to a child' means the harm that occurs whenever the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical abuse, physical neglect, or psychological abuse or neglect. 

In criminal law: 'Serious bodily injury' means bodily injury that does any of the following:

  • Creates a substantial risk of death
  • Causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function or process of a bodily member or organ
  • At the time of injury, can reasonably be expected to result in serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function or process of a bodily member or organ

The term includes serious mental illness or impairment.

Neglect
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-102

Effective October 1, 2025: 'Physical neglect' means any of the following:

  • Failure to provide basic necessities, including, but not limited to, appropriate and adequate nutrition, protective shelter from the elements, and appropriate clothing related to weather conditions
  • Failure to provide cleanliness and general supervision or both
  • Exposing or allowing the child to be exposed to an unreasonable physical or psychological risk
  • Allowing sexual abuse or exploitation of the child
  • Causing malnutrition or a failure to thrive

'Physical or psychological harm to a child' means the harm that occurs whenever the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare inflicts or allows to be inflicted on the child physical abuse, physical neglect, or psychological abuse or neglect.

'Withholding of medically indicated treatment' means failure to respond to an infant's life-threatening conditions by not providing treatment, including appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication, which, in the treating physician's or physicians' reasonable medical judgment, is most likely to be effective in ameliorating or correcting the conditions. 

Sexual Abuse/Exploitation
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-102

Effective October 1, 2025: 'Sexual abuse' means the commission of sexual assault, sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated sexual intercourse without consent, indecent exposure, ritual abuse, or incest. 

'Sexual exploitation' means any of the following:

  • Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in a prostitution offense
  • Allowing, permitting, or encouraging sexual abuse of children
  • Allowing, permitting, or encouraging sex trafficking, as described in §§ 45-5-702, 45-5-705, or 45-5-706

'Physical or psychological harm to a child' means the harm that occurs whenever a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare commits or allows sexual abuse or exploitation of the child. 

Emotional Abuse
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-102

Effective October 1, 2025: 'Psychological abuse or neglect' means severe maltreatment through acts or omissions that are injurious to the child's intellectual or psychological capacity to function and that is identified as psychological abuse or neglect by a licensed psychologist, professional counselor, clinical social worker, psychiatrist, pediatrician, or advanced practice registered nurse with a focused practice in psychiatry. The term includes, but is not limited to, acts of violence against another person residing in the child's home. The term may not be construed to hold a victim responsible for failing to prevent the crime against the victim.

Abandonment
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-102

'Abandon,' 'abandoned,' and 'abandonment' mean any of the following: 

  • Leaving a child under circumstances that make reasonable the belief that the parent does not intend to resume care of the child in the future
  • Willfully surrendering physical custody for a period of 6 months and, during that period, not manifesting to the child and the person having physical custody of the child a firm intention to resume physical custody or to make permanent legal arrangements for the care of the child
  • That the parent is unknown and has been unknown for a period of 90 days and that reasonable efforts to identify and locate the parent have failed
  • The voluntary surrender, as defined in § 40-6-402, by a parent of a newborn who is no more than 30 days old, to an emergency services provider 

'Physical or psychological harm to a child' means the harm that occurs when the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare abandons the child. 

Standards for Reporting
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-201

A report is required when a mandatory reporter knows or has reasonable cause to suspect, as a result of information they receive in their professional or official capacity, that a child is abused or neglected by anyone, regardless of whether the person suspected of causing the abuse or neglect is a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare. 

Persons Responsible for the Child
Citation: Ann. Code § 41-3-102

'A person responsible for a child's welfare' includes any of the following: 

  • The child's parent, guardian, foster parent, or an adult who resides in the same home as the child
  • A person providing care in a daycare facility
  • An employee of a public or private residential institution, facility, home, or agency
  • Any other person responsible for the child's welfare in a residential setting 

Exceptions
Citation: Ann. Code §§ 41-3-102; 45-5-622

Effective October 1, 2025: The term 'abandoned' does not include the voluntary surrender of the child to the department solely because of parental inability to access publicly funded services. 

The term 'child abuse' does not include either of the following:

  • Self-defense, defense of others, or action taken to prevent the child from self-harm that does not constitute physical or psychological harm to a child
  • A youth not receiving supervision solely because of parental inability to control the youth’s behavior

Substance use by a parent or guardian, a child's obesity, disorderly living conditions, or other factors closely related to economic status do not alone constitute 'physical or psychological harm to a child.'

Sexual abuse does not include any necessary touching of an infant's or toddler's genital area while attending to the sanitary or health-care needs of that infant or toddler by a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare.

This chapter may not be construed to require or justify a finding of child abuse or neglect for the sole reason that a parent or legal guardian, because of religious beliefs, does not provide adequate health care for a child. This chapter may not be construed to limit the administrative or judicial authority of the State to ensure that medical care is provided to the child when there is imminent substantial risk of serious harm to the child.

The term 'withholding medically indicated treatment' does not include the failure to provide treatment, other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication, to an infant when, in the treating physician's or physicians' reasonable medical judgment, the following apply:

  • The infant is chronically and irreversibly comatose.
  • The provision of treatment would merely prolong dying, not be effective in ameliorating or correcting all the infant's life-threatening conditions or otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the infant.
  • The provision of treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the infant, and the treatment itself under the circumstances would be inhumane.

In criminal law: A parent or guardian of a child does not violate a duty of care, protection, or support by permitting the child to engage in independent activities consistent with the child's intellectual, emotional, and physical maturity, including the following:

  • Traveling to and from school by walking, running, bicycling, public transit, or other means
  • Traveling to and from nearby commercial or recreational facilities
  • Engaging in outdoor play
  • Remaining for less than 15 minutes in a vehicle if the temperature inside the vehicle is not or will not become dangerously hot or cold
  • Remaining at home if the parent or guardian does all the following:
    • Returns home the same day on which the parent or guardian gives the child permission to remain at home
    • Makes provisions for the child to contact the parent or guardian
    • Makes provisions for any reasonably foreseeable emergency

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