Penalties for Failure to Report and False Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect - Missouri

Failure to Report

Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 210.165(1); 573.215

Any person violating any provision of the reporting laws is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

A person commits the offense of failure to report child pornography if he or she, being a film and photographic print processor, computer provider, installer or repair person, or any internet service provider who has knowledge of or observes, within the scope of the person's professional capacity or employment, any film, photograph, videotape, negative, slide, or computer-generated image or picture depicting a child under age 18 engaged in an act of sexual conduct fails to report such instance to any law enforcement agency immediately or as soon as practically possible.

The offense of failure to report child pornography is a class B misdemeanor.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a provider of electronic communication services or remote computing services to monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of the provider or the content of any communication of any user, subscriber, or customer of the provider.

False Reporting

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 210.165(2)-(3)

Any person who intentionally files a false report of child abuse or neglect shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

Every person who has been previously convicted of making a false report to the Children's Division or its predecessor agency, the Division of Family Services, and who is subsequently convicted of making a false report is guilty of a class E felony and shall be punished as provided by law.