Andrew D. Stine, P.A. - Florida Criminal Defence Attorney

The Florida Department of Children and Families is the state agency charged with the responsibility of protecting abused and neglected children, elderly, and the disabled. We often hear stories about DCF investigations involving child abuse or neglect, and how these children are taken away from their homes for fear of their safety or even their lives. As a community, we put our trust and faith into this organization to protect children from perilous situations. Unfortunately, the Florida DCF is receiving some heat as a case worker has been accused of falsifying documents and not fulfilling her duties.

Two Sarasota grandparents have been arrested charged with child endangerment, the charges also involve alcohol. Many times, child abuse, child neglect, and child endangerment often involves alcohol or drug abuse. When authorities are called to confront a set of parents or guardians, it's usually because a relative, teacher, or some sort of witness has personally seen the child's parents abuse or neglect the child. Often times the abuse or neglect only happens with alcohol. This can be a very tricky situation because the parents or guardians feel they have not done anything wrong.

When a parent is charged with child abuse, there are usually several factors involved in the crime. All too often, alcohol or drug abuse is the common denominator. Child abuse is an extremely serious crime but parents may not even realize they are putting their children in harms way because their judgment is so impaired by the substances they choose to take. One man in Michigan is being charged with felony child abuse for letting his daughter be his designated driver. His daughter is nine years old.

More often than not, when a person is accused of committing a crime, there is usually more than one crime in question. Many crimes do not have very significant sentences but what usually lands people in prison for long periods of time is being convicted of multiple crimes at once.

One of the most aggressively prosecuted crimes across the country is possession of child pornography. Florida lawmakers have even passed a motion to increase the sentence if the illicit material depicts children under the age of five. Child pornography is an extremely serious crime that can land the defendant five years in prison per image.

According to state child protective service agencies, more than 1 million children are victims of child abuse and neglect each year. More often than not, child abuse and neglect is not reported to the system because the victims’ suffering goes unreported. Abuse and neglect can happen in any home and often often happens without the parents realizing it.

Crimes committed against children are a heinous but unfortunately realistic part of our society. A lot of times, when a parent is arrested on child abuse charges, it is not the first time that parent has been investigated by the Department of Children and Families. Investigations are usually conducted after a teacher, neighbor, or family member reports suspicion to the authorities.