Crimes

State legislatures enact numerous statutes to protect people against members of their own family. CHILD ABUSE laws make criminal the physical or mental abuse of a child. Spousal abuse is also punished under state statutes.

The failure of a parent to pay court-ordered CHILD SUPPORT is made criminal in state statutes. States work together in apprehending so-called deadbeat parents through a uniform statute called the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (U.L.A. Unif. Interstate Family Support Act [1995]). A divorced parent who flees with a child may be criminally charged under state and federal KIDNAPPING statutes as well as CHILD CUSTODY statutes.