(a) A person commits child abuse if he or she causes an injury to a child’s life or health or permits a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which poses a threat of injury to the child’s life or health.

(b) In this Section, child means a person under the age of sixteen (16) years.

(c) The statutory privilege between patient and physician and between husband and wife shall not be available for excluding or refusing testimony in any prosecution for a violation of this Section.

(d) No person, other than the perpetrator, complicitor, co-conspirator or accessory, who reports an instance of child abuse to law enforcement officials, shall be subjected to criminal or civil liability for any consequence of making such report unless he or she knows at the time of making it that it is untrue.

(e) Deferred prosecution is authorized for a first offense under this Section.

(f) An act of child abuse is a misdemeanor. (Ord. 303 §11-201, 1977)