18 U.S.C. § 1169
Verified against govinfo.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on govinfo.gov ↗
- (a)Any person who—shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 6 months or both.
- (1)is a—
- (A)physician, surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, nurse, dental hygienist, optometrist, medical examiner, emergency medical technician, paramedic, or health care provider,
- (B)teacher, school counselor, instructional aide, teacher’s aide, teacher’s assistant, or bus driver employed by any tribal, Federal, public or private school,
- (C)administrative officer, supervisor of child welfare and attendance, or truancy officer of any tribal, Federal, public or private school,
- (D)child day care worker, headstart teacher, public assistance worker, worker in a group home or residential or day care facility, or social worker,
- (E)psychiatrist, psychologist, or psychological assistant,
- (F)licensed or unlicensed marriage, family, or child counselor,
- (G)person employed in the mental health profession, or
- (H)law enforcement officer, probation officer, worker in a juvenile rehabilitation or detention facility, or person employed in a public agency who is responsible for enforcing statutes and judicial orders;
- (2)knows, or has reasonable suspicion, that—
- (3)fails to immediately report such abuse or actions described in paragraph (2) to the local child protective services agency or local law enforcement agency,
- (1)is a—
- (b)Any person who—shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 6 months or both.
- (c)For purposes of this section, the term—
- (1)“abuse” includes—
- (2)“child” means an individual who—
- (3)“local child protective services agency” means that agency of the Federal Government, of a State, or of an Indian tribe that has the primary responsibility for child protection on any Indian reservation or within any community in Indian country; and
- (4)“local law enforcement agency” means that Federal, tribal, or State law enforcement agency that has the primary responsibility for the investigation of an instance of alleged child abuse within the portion of Indian country involved.
- (d)Any person making a report described in subsection (a) which is based upon their reasonable belief and which is made in good faith shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for making that report.