Opinion ID: 2637002
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Neglect, Permit and Allow

Text: As with abuse, the 1993 version of NRS 200.5099 made it a crime for an individual to willfully cause or permit an older person to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering as a result of neglect. NRS 200.5092 defined neglect: 3. Neglect means the failure of: (a) A person who has assumed legal responsibility or a contractual obligation for caring for an older person ... to provide food, shelter, clothing or services which are necessary to maintain the physical or mental health of the older person. [14] Permit was defined in the body of NRS 200.5099 itself: Permit means permission that a reasonable person would not grant and which amounts to a neglect of responsibility attending the care and custody of an older person. [15] Vallery again asserts that the phrase willfully causes or permits contemplates intentional conduct. Vallery contends the statute requires that an individual must have actual knowledge that an older person is in a situation where he or she is likely to suffer unjustifiable pain or mental suffering in order to be convicted of violating the statute. The State argues that, when combined with the definitions of neglect and permit, the statute does not require actual knowledge, but also contemplates constructive knowledge. Thus, an individual who should have known that his or her actions, or failure to act, placed an older person under his or her care in a position where the older person might be subjected to unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering can also be charged with neglect. We disagree. The statutes, read as a whole, require either that an individual willfully fails to provide for an older person or grant permission for some action that places an older person in a situation where the older person will suffer harm. We agree with the State that under a neglect charge, an individual does not have to intend to harm an older person. However, one cannot willfully cause or permit unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering by failing to provide appropriate care or services if one is unaware of the needs of the older person. The phrase willfully causes or permits contemplates actual knowledge of a situation which requires action (or a denial of permission) in order to prevent harm to an older person. We reach a different result however when we consider the language of the 1995 version of NRS 200.5099. As noted above, in 1995 the Legislature deleted the willfully causes or permits language. In addition, the Legislature restructured the statute. Subsequent to the amendments, NRS 200.5099(2) now provides criminal sanctions for any person who has assumed responsibility, legally, voluntarily or pursuant to contract, to care for an older person and who: (a) Neglects the older person, causing the older person to suffer physical pain or mental suffering; (b) Permits or allows the older person to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering; or (c) Permits or allows the older person to be placed in a situation where the older person may suffer physical pain or mental suffering as the result of abuse or neglect. The definitions of neglect and permit remain the same. The Legislature also added a new definition encompassing the term allow: Allow means to take no action to prevent or stop the abuse or neglect of an older person if the person knows or has reason to know that the older person is being abused or neglected. [16] The 1995 version of NRS 200.5099 again uses language identical or substantially similar to the child abuse and neglect prevention statutes. In interpreting those statutes, we have said that the permit and allow language must be read in conjunction and when so read both definitions establish the same requirement: a person acts unreasonably and is therefore criminally liable if she knows or has reason to know of abuse or neglect yet permits or allows the child to be subject to it. This requirement of knowledge and reasonableness adequately defines the state of mind required for a finding of guilt and effectively precludes punishment for inadvertent or ignorant acts. [17] We conclude that the same reasoning applies to the elder abuse prevention statute. With the deletion of the willfully causes language from the neglect provisions of the statute and the addition of the allow language, we conclude that a conviction under the neglect, permit or allow sections of NRS 200.5099 only requires proof that an accused knew or had reason to know that an older person could suffer harm as a result of the accused's actions or failure to act. Our conclusion is further supported by an additional amendment to the statutory scheme in 1999. The Legislature added NRS 200.50925, which states in pertinent part: For the purposes of NRS 200.5091 to 200.50995, inclusive, a person: 1. Has reasonable cause to believe if, in light of all the surrounding facts and circumstances which are known or which reasonably should be known to the person at the time, a reasonable person would believe, under those facts and circumstances, that an act, transaction, event, situation or condition exists, is occurring or has occurred. [18] While the term reasonable cause to believe does not appear in the neglect, permit or allow provisions of the statute, the language of NRS 200.50925 incorporates the overall theme of the statutes. In cases involving activities that do not rise to abuse, a reasonable person standard should apply. Thus, when an individual who is responsible for the care of an older person has knowledge of facts and circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to believe an older person was in a situation that might require additional care or services, the failure to take steps to check out the situation may result in criminal liability if the actions or failure to act causes the older person to suffer harm. Actual knowledge of danger to an older person is not required under the 1995 version of NRS 200.5099.