Section 39. Whoever abandons an infant under the age of ten within or without any building, or, being its parent, or being under a legal duty to care for it, and having made a contract for its board or maintenance, absconds or fails to perform such contract, and for four weeks after such absconding or breach of his contract, if of sufficient physical and mental ability, neglects to visit or remove such infant or notify the department of his inability to support such infant, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two years; or, if the infant dies by reason of such abandonment, by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one half years or in the state prison for not more than five years.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 1977–2024 · leading case:
Commonwealth v. Nassar, 406 N.E.2d 1286 (Mass. 1980).
Commonwealth v. Nassar, 406 N.E.2d 1286 (Mass. 1980).
“On May 15,1979, after a bench trial in Superior Court, Berkshire County, the present respondents James John Nassar, III, and his wife Patricia Anne Nassar were found not guilty by reason of mental illness of the crimes of child abandonment (G. L. c. 119, § 39) and man *909…”
Commonwealth v. Nebel, 795 N.E.2d 609 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003).
· cites it 2× “272, § 53, and abandonment of an infant under age of ten, G. L. c. 119, § 39. 1 Basically, the case boils down to two issues 2 : (1) Was the *317 defendant’s sex act public in nature? and (2) Did the defendant’s actions, in leaving his three and one-half year old child in an…”
Cennami v. Dep't of Pub. Welfare, 363 N.E.2d 539 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977).
“About four weeks later, the child, in circumstances not disclosed by the record before us, came to live with the Cennami family, where she remains to this day.”
Rafael Diaz-Rodriguez v. Merrick Garland, 12 F.4th 1126 (9th Cir. 2021).
“Law §§ 10-203 (nonsupport and desertion), 10-219 (desertion) Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 39 ; ch. Massachusetts 273, § 1 (abandonment) Mich.”
Rafael Diaz-rodriguez v. Merrick Garland (9th Cir. 2022).
“Law §§ 10-203 (nonsupport and desertion), 10-219 (desertion) Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 39 ; ch. 273, § 1 (abandonment) Michigan Mich.”
R.A.W. v. S.M.W. (& a Companion Case). (Mass. App. Ct. 2024).
“The mother argues that, despite the child having been left alone for a period of time on January 27, 2021, the mother never "abandoned" the child within the meaning of G. L. c. 119, § 39. Again, however, the mother does not cite, 6 The father asserted that on two occasions, one…”
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