Child abandonment laws in Louisiana treat leaving or deserting a young child as a crime called “child desertion” under Revised Statutes 14:93.2.1, with a first offense punishable by up to a $500 fine and six months in jail. The same conduct can also cost a parent custody, trigger state removal of the child, and permanently end parental rights in a separate civil proceeding.
What Counts as Child Desertion
Louisiana’s criminal code does not use the phrase “child abandonment.” The offense is child desertion, and it covers two kinds of conduct involving a child under ten. The first is intentionally or through criminal negligence exposing the child to a hazard or danger the child cannot reasonably protect against. The second is deserting or abandoning the child while knowing, or having reason to know, that such danger could follow.1Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:93.2.1 – Child Desertion
The statute reaches anyone with “care, custody, or control” of the child at the time, not only biological parents. Stepparents, grandparents, foster parents, and babysitters all fall within its scope. There is no requirement that the person meant to permanently cut ties with the child. Criminal negligence is enough, which is a lower bar than many parents assume. Leaving a young child home alone, in a hot car, or with someone known to be dangerous can all meet it.
The age cutoff matters. The desertion statute applies only when the child is under ten. Conduct involving older children may still be prosecuted, but under other provisions such as cruelty to juveniles.
Criminal Penalties
A first child desertion conviction is a misdemeanor. The maximum is a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Laws – Child Desertion RS 14:93.2.1
A second or later conviction carries mandatory jail. The judge must impose a fine of up to $500 and a jail term of at least 30 days and no more than six months, with at least 30 days served without probation or suspension of sentence.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Laws – Child Desertion RS 14:93.2.1
Facts drive sentencing. A brief lapse that put no one at real risk looks different from leaving a child in a dangerous place for days. When a child was actually harmed or the conduct was especially reckless, prosecutors can stack additional charges such as cruelty to juveniles or criminal neglect, which carry considerably steeper penalties than desertion alone.
Losing Parental Rights
Criminal charges run on one track. The possible loss of parental rights runs on another, and it does not require a conviction. Louisiana’s Children’s Code lists abandonment as a specific ground for involuntary termination of parental rights. The state can petition for termination when a parent has placed a child with a non-parent or with DCFS, or has otherwise left the child in circumstances showing an intent to permanently avoid parental responsibility.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Children’s Code Art. 1015 – Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
Three specific situations qualify as abandonment for termination purposes:
- The parent’s whereabouts remain unknown for at least four months as of the hearing, despite a diligent search.
- The parent has failed to provide significant contributions to the child’s care and support for any six consecutive months before the petition is filed.
- The parent has failed to visit or communicate with the child for any six consecutive months before the petition is filed.
Any one of these, standing alone, can support termination. DCFS files most of these petitions, though a court can specially appoint private counsel to file one.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Children’s Code Art. 1004 – Petition for Termination of Parental Rights
Termination is permanent. Once a court grants it, the parent has no legal claim to custody, visitation, or decision-making, and the child becomes eligible for adoption. Federal law adds pressure to move quickly: the Adoption and Safe Families Act requires states to seek termination when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the previous 22 months, and abandonment is treated as an “aggravated circumstance” that can bypass the usual requirement to make reasonable efforts toward reunification.
When the Child Enters State Care
Before termination, an abandoned child usually enters Louisiana’s Child in Need of Care (CINC) system. Under Children’s Code Article 606, a child qualifies when they lack necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision because of a parent’s disappearance or prolonged absence, or when continuing parental absence puts the child at substantial risk of imminent harm.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Children’s Code Art. 606 – Grounds for Child in Need of Care
CINC proceedings are civil, not criminal, and focus on the child’s safety rather than punishing the parent. Depending on the facts, a judge can order in-home services, place the child with a relative, or grant temporary custody to DCFS. These cases often run alongside a criminal desertion prosecution. Reunification is the default goal when it can be done safely; when it cannot, the case can transition into a termination proceeding.
Effect on Custody and Visitation
Even without a conviction or formal termination, evidence of abandonment weighs heavily in family court. Louisiana courts decide custody by the best interests of the child, and a parent who left the child or dropped out of their life faces a steep climb. In those situations the non-abandoning parent will almost always receive primary or sole custody.
Visitation can also be cut back. A court may require supervised visits, limit contact, or deny visitation altogether when past conduct raises safety concerns. A documented history of abandonment makes it substantially harder to regain unsupervised access later, even after counseling or other court-ordered programs.
The Safe Haven Exception for Newborns
Louisiana’s Safe Haven Law gives parents in crisis a legal way to give up a newborn without being prosecuted. A parent can surrender an infant up to 60 days old at a designated safe haven site, anonymously. If the baby was in neonatal intensive care, the 60-day clock starts at discharge rather than birth.6Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. About Safe Haven
Designated sites include any Louisiana-licensed hospital, parish public health units and certain other medical clinics during business hours, any staffed fire station, any staffed police or sheriff’s station, and authorized newborn safety devices. A parent who cannot travel can call 911; emergency responders will come, confirm the relinquishment, and transport the baby to a hospital. The parent does not have to give a name or answer questions.6Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. About Safe Haven
The Children’s Code states the purpose plainly: parents can relinquish infants “in safety, anonymity, and without fear of prosecution.”7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Children’s Code Art. 1149 – Safe Haven Relinquishments A proper safe haven surrender is not child desertion, because the parent is handing the baby to people who can care for it immediately. The baby enters state care, and the adoption process begins.
Defenses to a Child Desertion Charge
Because the statute reaches both intentional conduct and criminal negligence, the defense depends on how the case is charged. If prosecutors allege intentional exposure to danger, the defense can attack intent. Unforeseen emergencies, medical crises, or genuine misunderstandings about where the child was or who was with them can all undercut an intentional-conduct theory.
When the charge rests on criminal negligence, the question is whether the parent’s conduct fell below a reasonable standard. Leaving the child with another responsible adult, making sure the child had food and shelter, or arranging a caretaker all suggest reasonable steps were taken, even if the arrangement later proved imperfect.
A third angle challenges the hazard element. The statute requires that the child was exposed to, or could have been exposed to, a danger the child could not reasonably protect against. Context does heavy work here. A nine-year-old alone for 30 minutes in a safe home is a very different case from a toddler left near a busy road.
For parents of newborns, safe haven compliance is a complete defense. A parent who surrenders an infant at a designated site within the 60-day window is protected from prosecution by statute.