California · Penal Code
PEN §273a: (a) Any person who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or
What this law says, in plain English
A person who willfully causes or permits a child to suffer unjustifiable physical or mental pain under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death may be imprisoned in county jail up to one year or state prison for two, four, or six years. Lesser conduct under different circumstances is a misdemeanor.
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