Endangering the welfare of a child; class A misdemeanor; class B, C, D, E, or G felony.
Del. Code tit. 11, § 1102
in effect(a) A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child when:
(1) Being a parent, guardian or any other person who has assumed responsibility for the care or supervision of a child the person:
a. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of the child; or
b. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly does or fails to do any act, including failing to report a missing child, with the result that the child becomes a neglected or abused child; or
(2) The person knowingly contributes to the delinquency of any child less than 18 years old by doing or failing to do any act with the result, alone or in conjunction with other acts or circumstances, that the child becomes a delinquent child; or
(3) The person knowingly encourages, aids, abets or conspires with the child to run away from the home of the child’s parents, guardian or custodian; or the person knowingly and illegally harbors a child who has run away from home; or
(4) The person commits any violent felony, or reckless endangering second degree, assault third degree, terroristic threatening, unlawful imprisonment second degree, or child abuse third or fourth degree against a victim, knowing that such felony or misdemeanor was witnessed, either by sight or sound, by a child less than 18 years of age who is a member of the person’s family or the victim’s family; or
(5) The person commits the offense of driving under the influence as set forth in § 4177 of Title 21, or the offense of operating a vessel or boat under the influence as set forth in § 2302 of Title 23, and during the commission of the offense knowingly permits a child less than 18 years of age to be a passenger in or on such vehicle, vessel or boat; or
(6) The person commits any offense set forth in Chapter 47 of Title 16 in any dwelling, knowing that any child less than 18 years of age is present in the dwelling at the time; or
(7) a. A child dies, suffers a serious physical injury, suffers a physical injury, or suffers a period of altered mental or physical state because the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly makes available to the child through exposure, consumption, or inhalation any of the following:
1. A controlled substance that is not prescribed to the child by a physician.
2. A prescription drug that is not a controlled substance but for which a prescription is required.
b. As used in this paragraph (a)(7):
1. “Controlled substance” means as defined in § 4701 of Title 16.
2. “Prescription drug” means as defined in § 4701 of Title 16.
(b) Endangering the welfare of a child, except paragraph (a)(7) of this section, shall be punished as follows:
(1) When the death of a child occurs while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in subsection (a) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class E felony;
(2) When serious physical injury to a child occurs while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in subsection (a) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class G felony;
(3) When a child becomes the victim of a sexual offense as defined in § 761(i) of this title while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in subsection (a) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class G felony;
(4) In all other cases, endangering the welfare of a child is a class A misdemeanor.
(c) Endangering the welfare of a child, as set forth in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, shall be punished as follows:
(1) When the death of a child occurs while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class B felony.
(2) When serious physical injury to a child occurs while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class C felony.
(3) When physical injury to a child occurs while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, endangering the welfare of a child is a class D felony.
(4) When physical injury to a child does not occur while the child’s welfare was endangered as defined in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, but the child suffers a period of altered mental or physical state, endangering the welfare of a child is a class A misdemeanor.
(d) For the purpose of imposing the penalties prescribed in paragraph (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), (c)(1), (c)(2), (c)(3), or (c)(4) of this section, it is not necessary to prove the person’s state of mind or liability for causation with regard to the resulting death of or physical injury to the child, sexual offense against the child, or altered mental or physical state of the child, notwithstanding the provisions of § 251, § 252, § 261, § 262, § 263 or § 264 of this title, or any other statutes to the contrary.
Source: DE Code (Official Site)URL: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c005/sc05/index.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026