§ 19-15-1.Definitions
Chapter 15. Child Abuse · Last amended 2022 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-15-1
Plain-English Summary
This section is the dictionary for Chapter 15, which sets up local child abuse protocol committees (§ 19-15-2), local child fatality review committees (§ 19-15-3) and the statewide Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel (§ 19-15-4). Its definitions apply within this chapter.
A “child” is any person under 18. “Child abuse” takes four forms: physical injury or death that a parent or caretaker inflicts by other than accidental means; neglect or exploitation by a parent or caretaker; sexual abuse; and sexual exploitation. The physical-injury prong adds that physical forms of discipline may be used as long as the child suffers no physical injury. “Sexual abuse” covers employing, persuading, enticing or coercing a minor who isn’t the person’s spouse into any of nine listed kinds of acts. It includes consensual acts between minors if anyone involved is under 14, but it excludes consensual acts between a minor and an adult who is not more than four years older. “Sexual exploitation” means allowing, encouraging or requiring a child to engage in sexual servitude or in sexually explicit conduct for producing visual or print material, as Title 16 defines those terms.
Other terms describe the system. A “child advocacy center” investigates suspected abuse and treats children and families; it must be created and supported through at least one intracommunity compact with law enforcement, a prosecutor’s office, a child protective agency, a mental health board or a community health service board, and it must be approved by a protocol committee. A “child protection professional” is a public law enforcement officer, teacher, school administrator or school counselor, or someone employed to serve children by the listed state departments, a county board of health, a community service board or a county DFCS office. An “investigation” of a child’s death includes a post-mortem examination, a law enforcement inquiry with a scene investigation and interviews, and a review of agency, professional and medical records. The “report” is the standardized form the panel designates for data on deaths that local committees review.
Mandatory reporting of child abuse falls under § 19-7-5, which carries its own definition of child abuse that also lists emotional abuse and prenatal abuse, among others.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as child abuse under Georgia’s child fatality review law?
Under this section, child abuse means physical injury or death that a parent or caretaker inflicts on a child by other than accidental means; neglect or exploitation of a child by a parent or caretaker; sexual abuse of a child; or sexual exploitation of a child. These definitions apply to Chapter 15. The mandatory reporting law, § 19-7-5, uses its own definition that also lists emotional abuse and prenatal abuse, among other things.
Is spanking child abuse in Georgia?
Not by itself under this definition. The physical-injury prong of “child abuse” says physical forms of discipline may be used as long as there is no physical injury to the child. Discipline that causes physical injury can fall within the definition. Whether particular discipline crossed that line depends on the facts. This definition governs Chapter 15; other Georgia laws use their own definitions.
Is consensual sex between teenagers sexual abuse in Georgia?
It can be under this definition. Sexual abuse includes consensual sex acts between minors if any individual involved is less than 14 years old. It does not include consensual sex acts between a minor and an adult who is not more than four years older than the minor. The section also says this provision doesn’t repeal any law concerning the age or capacity to consent, so those laws still apply on their own terms.
What is a child advocacy center in Georgia?
It is an entity that investigates known or suspected child abuse and treats a child or family who is the subject of an abuse report. To qualify, it must be created and supported through one or more intracommunity compacts with law enforcement, a district attorney’s or attorney general’s office, a child protective agency, a mental health board or a community health service board, and a protocol committee must approve it. Under § 19-15-2, a local center’s representative sits on the protocol committee.
What does an investigation of a child’s death include in Georgia?
It includes all three of these: a post-mortem examination, which may be limited to an external examination or may include an autopsy; an inquiry by the law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction into the circumstances, including a scene investigation and interviews with the child’s parents, guardian or caretaker and the person who reported the death; and a review of information about the child and family from relevant agencies, professionals and medical providers.
Amendment History
Laws 1990, p. 1785, § 1; Laws 1991, p. 94, § 19; Laws 1993, p. 1695, § 2; Laws 1993, p. 1941, § 1; Laws 2001, p. 1158, § 1; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-8, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2009, Act 151, § 2, eff. May 5, 2009; Laws 2011, Act 244, § 6-3, eff. July 1, 2011; Laws 2014, Act 476, § 2-3, eff. July 1, 2014; Laws 2016, Act 597, § 3, eff. July 1, 2016; Laws 2016, Act 625, § 19, eff. May 3, 2016; Laws 2021, Act 138, § 13, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.
Formerly Code 1981, § 19-1-1.