Iowa

How does state law define child abuse and neglect for reporting purposes?

• Mandated reporters must report abuse as defined in Iowa statute 232.68 and any legal guidance interpreting this statute.
  • Child abuse means:
    • Any nonaccidental physical injury, or injury which is at variance with the history given of it, suffered by a child as the result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child.
    • Any mental injury to a child's intellectual or psychological capacity as evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child's ability to function within the child's normal range of performance and behavior as the result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child, if the impairment is diagnosed and confirmed by a licensed physician or qualified mental health professional as defined in section 622.10.
    • The commission of a sexual offense with or to a child pursuant to chapter 709, section 726.2, or section 728.12, subsection 1, as a result of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child or of a person who is fourteen years of age or older and resides in a home with the child. Notwithstanding section 702.5, the commission of a sexual offense under this subparagraph includes any sexual offense referred to in this subparagraph with or to a person under the age of eighteen years.
      • For purposes of reporting sexual offenses, mandated reporters shall make a report of acts described in this paragraph, of a child who is under twelve years of age and may, but are not required to, make a report of abuse of a child who is twelve years of age or older, if the acts meet this definition but resulted from the acts or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for the care of the child.
    • The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical or mental health treatment, supervision, or other care necessary for the child's health and welfare when financially able to do so or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so.
      • For the purposes of subparagraph division (a), failure to provide for the adequate supervision of a child means the person failed to provide proper supervision of a child that a reasonable and prudent person would exercise under similar facts and circumstances and the failure resulted in direct harm or created a risk of harm to the child.
      • A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone shall not be considered abusing the child, however this provision shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child where the child's health requires it.
    • The acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of a child which allow, permit, or encourage the child to engage in acts prohibited pursuant to section 725.1. Notwithstanding section 702.5, acts or omissions under this subparagraph include an act or omission referred to in this subparagraph with or to a person under the age of eighteen years.
      • For purposes of reporting under this definition, mandated reporters shall make a report of acts described in this paragraph, of a child who is under twelve years of age and may, but are not required to, make a report of abuse of a child who is twelve years of age or older, if the acts meet this definition but resulted from the acts or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for the care of the child.
    • An illegal drug is present in a child's body as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child.
    • The person responsible for the care of a child, in the presence of a child, as defined in section 232.2, subsection 6, paragraph “p”, unlawfully uses, possesses, manufactures, cultivates, or distributes a dangerous substance, as defined in section 232.2, subsection 6, paragraph “p”, or knowingly allows such use, possession, manufacture, cultivation, or distribution by another person in the presence of a child; possesses a product with the intent to use the product as a precursor or an intermediary to a dangerous substance in the presence of a child; or unlawfully uses, possesses, manufactures, cultivates, or distributes a dangerous substance specified in section 232.2, subsection 6, paragraph “p”, subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (a), (b), or (c), in a child's home, on the premises, or in a motor vehicle located on the premises.
    • The commission of bestiality in the presence of a minor under section 717C.1 by a person who resides in a home with a child, as a result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child.
    • A person who is responsible for the care of a child knowingly allowing another person custody of, control over, or unsupervised access to a child under the age of fourteen or a child with a physical or mental disability, after knowing the other person is required to register or is on the sex offender registry under chapter 692A.
      • This subparagraph does not apply in any of the following circumstances:
        • A child living with a parent or guardian who is a sex offender required to register or on the sex offender registry under chapter 692A.
        • A child living with a parent or guardian who is married to and living with a sex offender required to register or on the sex offender registry under chapter 692A.
        • A child who is a sex offender required to register or on the sex offender registry under chapter 692A who is living with the child's parent, guardian, or foster parent and is also living with the child to whom access was allowed.
      • For purposes of this subparagraph, “control over” means any of the following:
        • A person who has accepted, undertaken, or assumed supervision of a child from the parent or guardian of the child.
        • A person who has undertaken or assumed temporary supervision of a child without explicit consent from the parent or guardian of the child.
    • The person responsible for the care of the child has knowingly allowed the child access to obscene material as defined in section 728.1 or has knowingly disseminated or exhibited such material to the child.
    • The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a child for the purpose of commercial sexual activity as defined in section 710A.1.
  • “Child abuse” or “abuse” shall not be construed to hold a victim responsible for failing to prevent a crime against the victim.

Are child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, statutory rape, incest, intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking of a minor reportable as child abuse or neglect and if so, how are they defined and what is reportable?

For the most current definitions of these terms, refer to the Iowa state statutes here and here and the Iowa Department of Human Services website.