Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-413 (2026)
False reporting of child sexual abuse or false accusation that a child has sustained any wound, injury, disability or physical or mental condition caused by brutality, abuse or neglect - Penalty
✓ current as of May 2026
Any person who either verbally or by written or printed communication knowingly and maliciously reports, or causes, encourages, aids, counsels or procures another to report, a false accusation of child sexual abuse or false accusation that a child has sustained any wound, injury, disability or physical or mental condition caused by brutality, abuse or neglect commits a Class E felony.
Acts 1985, ch. 478, § 43; 1989, ch. 591, § 33; 2008, ch. 1171, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5
cases, 1997–2019 · leading case: Bryant-Bruce v. Vanderbilt Univ., Inc., 974 F. Supp. 1127 (M.D. Tenn. 1997).
Bryant-Bruce v. Vanderbilt Univ., Inc., 974 F. Supp. 1127 (M.D. Tenn. 1997). “” T.C.A. § 37-1-413. 10 . Plaintiffs cite Evans in support of their position that gross negligence and/or a finding that there were no objective signs of abuse is sufficient to overcome the presumption of good faith.”
Murphy v. Farmer, 176 F. Supp. 3d 1325 (N.D. Ga. 2016). “§§ 2144(a) & 2146(c), T.C.A. § 37-1-413), through Farmer’s filing of false reports of child abuse with authorities in the Virgin Islands and Tennessee; (7) interference with custody (in violation of O.”
State of Tennessee v. Charles Reginald Underwood, Jr. (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “T.C.A. § 37-1-413 (2005). At the sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of three years, eleven months, and twenty-five days, to be served on split confinement involving six months of jail service followed by probation conditioned upon community…”
State of Tennessee v. Dena Paulette Rackliff (Tenn. Crim. App. 2003). “” The proof at trial established that Evelyn Collins of the Department of Children’s Services detected no indications that J.”
Melanie Lemon v. Williamson Cnty. Schs. (2019). “14 Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-413 provides: Any person who either verbally or by written or printed communication knowingly and maliciously reports, or causes, encourages, aids, counsels or procures another to report, a false accusation of child sexual abuse or false accusation that…”
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