Title

Penal, Chapter 25 - Offenses Against The Family

Text

TITLE 6 - OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY

CHAPTER 25 - OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY

Sec.

25.01. Bigamy.

25.02. Prohibited sexual conduct.

25.03. Interference with child custody.

25.031. Agreement to abduct from custody.

25.04. Enticing a child.

25.05. Criminal nonsupport.

25.06. Harboring runaway child.

25.07. Violation of protective order or magistrate's

order.

25.08. Sale or purchase of child.

25.09. Advertising for placement of child.

25.11. (Renumbered.)

Section 25.01. Bigamy.

(a) An individual commits an offense if:

(1) he is legally married and he:

(A) purports to marry or does marry a person other than

his spouse in this state, or any other state or foreign

country, under circumstances that would, but for the

actor's prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or

(B) lives with a person other than his spouse in this

state under the appearance of being married; or

(2) he knows that a married person other than his spouse

is married and he:

(A) purports to marry or does marry that person in this

state, or any other state or foreign country, under

circumstances that would, but for the person's prior

marriage, constitute a marriage; or

(B) lives with that person in this state under the

appearance of being married.

(b) For purposes of this section, "under the appearance

of being married" means holding out that the parties are

married with cohabitation, and an intent to be married by

either party.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection

(a)(1) that the actor reasonably believed that his marriage

was void or had been dissolved by death, divorce, or

annulment.

(d) For the purposes of this section, the lawful wife or

husband of the actor may testify both for or against the

actor concerning proof of the original marriage.

(e) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.02. Prohibited sexual conduct.

(a) An individual commits an offense if he engages in

sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse with a

person he knows to be, without regard to legitimacy:

(1) his ancestor or descendant by blood or adoption;

(2) his stepchild or stepparent, while the marriage

creating that relationship exists;

(3) his parent's brother or sister of the whole or half

blood;

(4) his brother or sister of the whole or half blood or

by adoption; or

(5) the children of his brother or sister of the whole

or half blood or by adoption.

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Deviate sexual intercourse" means any contact

between the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of

another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual

desire of any person.

(2) "Sexual intercourse" means any penetration of the

female sex organ by the male sex organ.

(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the

third degree.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.03. Interference with child custody.

(a) A person commits an offense if he takes or retains a

child younger than 18 years when he:

(1) knows that his taking or retention violates the

express terms of a judgment or order of a court disposing

of the child's custody; or

(2) has not been awarded custody of the child by a court

of competent jurisdiction, knows that a suit for divorce or

a civil suit or application for habeas corpus to dispose of

the child's custody has been filed, and takes the child out

of the geographic area of the counties composing the

judicial district if the court is a district court or the

county if the court is a statutory county court, without

the permission of the court and with the intent to deprive

the court of authority over the child.

(b) A noncustodial parent commits an offense if, with

the intent to interfere with the lawful custody of a child

younger than 18 years, he knowingly entices or persuades

the child to leave the custody of the custodial parent,

guardian, or person standing in the stead of the custodial

parent or guardian of the child.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection

(a)(2) that the actor returned the child to the geographic

area of the counties composing the judicial district if the

court is a district court or the county if the court is a

statutory county court, within three days after the date of

the commission of the offense.

(d) An offense under this section is a state jail

felony.

(Chgd. by L.1989, chap. 830(1); L.1993, chap. 900(1.01),

eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.031. Agreement to abduct from custody.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person agrees,

for remuneration or the promise of remuneration, to abduct

a child younger than 18 years of age by force, threat of

force, misrepresentation, stealth, or unlawful entry,

knowing that the child is under the care and control of a

person having custody or physical possession of the child

under a court order or under the care and control of

another person who is exercising care and control with the

consent of a person having custody or physical possession

under a court order.

(b) An offense under this section is a state jail

felony.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.04. Enticing a child.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to

interfere with the lawful custody of a child younger than

18 years, he knowingly entices, persuades, or takes the

child from the custody of the parent or guardian or person

standing in the stead of the parent or guardian of such

child.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.05. Criminal nonsupport.

(a) An individual commits an offense if he intentionally

or knowingly fails to provide support for his child younger

than 18 years of age, or for his child who is the subject

of a court order requiring the individual to support the

child.

(b) For purposes of this section, "child" includes a

child born out of wedlock whose paternity has either been

acknowledged by the actor or has been established in a

civil suit under the Family Code or the law of another

state.

(c) Under this section, a conviction may be had on the

uncorroborated testimony of a party to the offense.

(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under

this section that the actor could not provide support for

his child.

(e) The pendency of a prosecution under this section

does not affect the power of a court to enter an order for

child support under the Family Code.

(f) An offense under this section is a state jail

felony.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.06. Harboring runaway child.

(a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly harbors

a child and he is criminally negligent about whether the

child:

(1) is younger than 18 years; and

(2) has escaped from the custody of a peace officer, a

probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, or a detention

facility for children, or is voluntarily absent from the

child's home without the consent of the child's parent or

guardian for a substantial length of time or without the

intent to return.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section

that the actor was related to the child within the second

degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under

Chapter 573, Government Code.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section

that the actor notified:

(1) the person or agency from which the child escaped or

a law enforcement agency of the presence of the child

within 24 hours after discovering that the child had

escaped from custody; or

(2) a law enforcement agency or a person at the child's

home of the presence of the child within 24 hours after

discovering that the child was voluntarily absent from home

without the consent of the child's parent or guardian.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor.

(e) On the receipt of a report from a peace officer,

probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, a foster home,

or a detention facility for children that a child has

escaped its custody or upon receipt of a report from a

parent, guardian, conservator, or legal custodian that a

child is missing, a law enforcement agency shall

immediately enter a record of the child into the National

Crime Information Center.

(Chgd. by L.1991, chap. 561(40); deleted by amendment and

renum. from section 25.07 and chgd. by L.1993, chap.

900(1.01); chgd. by L.1995, chap. 76(5.95(27)), eff.

9/1/95.)

Section 25.07. Violation of protective order or

magistrate's order.

(a) A person commits an offense if, in violation of an

order issued under Section 6.504 or Chapter 85, Family

Code, under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, or

by another jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family

Code, the person knowingly or intentionally:

(1) commits family violence or an act in furtherance of

an offense under Section 42.072;

(2) communicates:

(A) directly with a protected individual or a member of

the family or household in a threatening or harassing

manner;

(B) a threat through any person to a protected

individual or a member of the family or household; and

(C) in any manner with the protected individual or a

member of the family or household except through the

person's attorney or a person appointed by the court, if

the order prohibits any communication with a protected

individual or a member of the family or household; or

(3) goes to or near any of the following places as

specifically described in the order:

(A) the residence or place of employment or business of

a protected individual or a member of the family or

household; or

(B) any child care facility, residence, or school where

a child protected by the order normally resides or attends.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "family violence,"

"family," "household," and "member of a household" have the

meanings assigned by Section 71.01, Family Code.

(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this

section also constitutes an offense under another section

of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either

section or under both sections.

(d) Reconciliatory actions or agreements made by persons

affected by an order do not affect the validity of the

order or the duty of a peace officer to enforce this

section.

(e) A peace officer investigating conduct that may

constitute an offense under this section for a violation of

an order may not arrest a person protected by that order

for a violation of that order.

(f) It is not a defense to prosecution under this

section that certain information has been excluded, as

provided by Section 71.111, Family Code, or Article 17.292,

Code of Criminal Procedure, from an order to which this

section applies.

(g) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor unless it is shown on the trial of the offense

that the defendant has previously been convicted under this

section two or more times or has violated the protective

order by committing an assault or the offense of stalking,

in which event the offense is a third degree felony.

(Chgd. by L.1989, chaps. 614(23-26), 739(4-7); L.1991,

chap. 366(2); renum. from section 25.08 and chgd. by

L.1993, chap. 900(1.01); chgd. by L.1995, chaps.

658(2),(3), 660(1), 1024(23); L.1997, chaps. 1(2),

1193(21), eff. 1/28/97, 9/1/97, respectively.)

Section 25.08. Sale or purchase of child.

(a) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) possesses a child younger than 18 years of age or

has the custody, conservatorship, or guardianship of a

child younger than 18 years of age, whether or not he has

actual possession of the child, and he offers to accept,

agrees to accept, or accepts a thing of value for the

delivery of the child to another or for the possession of

the child by another for purposes of adoption; or

(2) offers to give, agrees to give, or gives a thing of

value to another for acquiring or maintaining the

possession of a child for the purpose of adoption.

(b) It is an exception to the application of this

section that the thing of value is:

(1) a fee paid to a child-placing agency as authorized

by law;

(2) a fee paid to an attorney or physician for services

rendered in the usual course of legal or medical practice;

or

(3) a reimbursement of legal or medical expenses

incurred by a person for the benefit of the child.

(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the

third degree.

(Renumbered from section 25.11 and chgd. by L.1993, chap.

900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 25.09. Advertising for placement of child.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person advertises

in the public media that the person will place a child for

adoption or will provide or obtain a child for adoption.

(b) This section does not apply to a licensed child-

placing agency that is identified in the advertisement as a

licensed child-placing agency.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor unless the person has been convicted previously

under this section, in which event the offense is a felony

of the third degree.

(d) In this section:

(1) "Child" has the meaning assigned by Section 101.003,

Family Code.

(2) "Public media" has the meaning assigned by Section

38.01. The term also includes communications through the

use of the Internet or another public computer network.

(Added by L.1997, chap. 561(31), eff. 9/1/97.)

Section 25.11. (Renumbered to section 25.08 by L.1993,