Reckless assault of a child · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 120.02 Reckless assault of a child.
1. A person is guilty of reckless assault of a child when, being eighteen years of age or more, such person recklessly causes serious physical injury to the brain of a child less than five years old by shaking the child, or by slamming or throwing the child so as to impact the child's head on a hard surface or object.
2. For purposes of subdivision one of this section, the following shall constitute "serious physical injury":
a. "serious physical injury" as defined in subdivision ten of section 10.00 of this chapter; or
b. extreme rotational cranial acceleration and deceleration and one or more of the following: (i) subdural hemorrhaging; (ii) intracranial hemorrhaging; or (iii) retinal hemorrhaging.
Reckless assault of a child is a class D felony.
A person 18 or older commits reckless assault of a child by recklessly causing serious brain injury to a child under 5 through shaking, or by slamming or throwing the child so the head strikes a hard surface or object. ★ Serious injury includes the § 10.00(10) meaning or extreme rotational acceleration and deceleration with subdural, intracranial, or retinal hemorrhaging. It is a class D felony.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.