Circumstances Leading to a Westport Risk of Injury to a Minor Arrest

Risk of an injury can seem like an ambiguous charge, but it essentially refers to any situation in which a child’s safety or morals are put at risk. The circumstances leading to a Westport risk of injury to a minor arrest are often rooted in domestic violence or child endangerment and can have serious consequences for those charged. If you have been charged with risk of injury, consult a qualified risk of injury attorney. Your lawyer could devote the time and resources necessary to build your defense.

How Does Law Enforcement Handle These Charges?

In Westport, police tend to err on the side of caution with risk of injury charges. So, typically, a person will be arrested immediately if there is cause to believe that the child is at risk. A misdemeanor arrest can be in the form of a ticket. One of the circumstances leading to a Westport risk of injury to a minor arrest is leaving a child unsupervised in a motor vehicle. In those cases, the police may issue a misdemeanor summons to a person or a parent when they return to the vehicle. So, even though it looks like it’s a run of the mill speeding ticket, it is really a summons that serves as an arrest. In that sense, an arrest is immediately performed for risk of injury to minors. The police do not really have time to issue deep investigations in these cases because they do not want to put the child at risk to be injured even further.

When Would a Person Be Required to Leave Their Home?

In Westport, a person is typically required to leave their home if it is a domestic violence situation and the police are called to a home to investigate. A household disturbance could be one of the potential circumstances leading to a Westport risk of injury to a minor arrest. If an arrest is performed, typically, the person who is arrested is issued a 24-hour protective order in which a person is required to leave their home until they are able to go to court the next day and be arraigned. Then, when they are in court the next day, the judge decides whether or not that protective order needs to remain in place or if it can be vacated and an elective protective order can be entered. But, typically, if there’s any sort of domestic violence case in which the police are called and issue an arrest, the person who’s being arrested has to leave the home.

Arrests Following a DCF Investigation

Another one of the circumstances leading to a Westport risk of injury to a minor arrest, would be following a DCF investigation if DCF finds reports that a child is being abused or some other sort of crime is happening in a household. Anything that is reported to a DCF investigator can be used in a criminal prosecution and that especially goes for risk of injury charges, which is why it is so important for people who are being charged with risk of injury in Westport to make sure that they hire an attorney who can also assist them in their DCF investigation, because the DCF investigation and the criminal case go hand in hand.

So, whatever a person says to DCF can be detrimental to the criminal case. It’s important to have an attorney there, making sure that everything that the DCF investigator has been told is not going to lead to another arrest or be detrimental to the court proceeding against the person. The other situation in which a person can be arrested following a DCF investigation is if a DCF worker substantiates abuse against a family member after an investigation. That could lead to an arrest as well. If an individual is arrested for a risk of injury offense, they should consult a qualified child endangerment lawyer that can attempt to build a solid defense for them, and protect their rights.