ARRESTED? INVESTIGATED?
ARRESTADO? INVESTIGADO?
A child abuse accusation can threaten your freedom, family relationships, career, immigration status, and reputation before the State files a formal charge. The investigation may begin with a hotline report, a medical visit, a school concern, a family dispute, or a statement that police interpret without full context.
What you do next matters. Don’t question the child about what to say, contact an accusing witness, delete messages, alter records, or give investigators a recorded statement without legal advice. Follow every court, child-welfare, and no-contact order even when you disagree with it.
A Miami child abuse lawyer can preserve communications, examine medical findings, identify witnesses, review interview methods, and test whether the State can prove intent, culpable negligence, injury, or caregiver responsibility. If the allegation began in Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Doral, Coral Gables, Homestead, North Miami, or another Miami-Dade municipality, early local defense work can shape both the criminal case and related proceedings.
Answered around the clock. Free and confidential. English or Spanish.
The sooner the defense starts, the sooner your lawyer can preserve records, examine medical evidence, review interviews, and protect you from avoidable mistakes.
For help from Albert Quirantes, Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers, call or text 305-644-1800 for a free strategy session.
Albert Quirantes has practiced criminal defense for more than 35 years, represented more than 8,000 clients, and handled numerous jury trials. His firm enjoys more than 1,400 five-star Google reviews and serves clients in English and Spanish from its Miami office.
Represented since 1987
English and Spanish
Florida Statute § 827.01 defines a child as a person under 18 and a caregiver as a parent, adult household member, or another person responsible for a child’s welfare.
Under Florida Statute § 827.03, child abuse includes intentionally inflicting physical or mental injury, committing an intentional act that could reasonably be expected to cause such injury, or actively encouraging another person to commit an act that causes or could cause such injury.
Aggravated child abuse includes aggravated battery on a child; willfully torturing, maliciously punishing, or willfully and unlawfully caging a child; or knowingly or willfully abusing a child and causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement.
The same statute treats neglect differently. Child neglect can involve a caregiver’s willful failure or omission to provide essential care, supervision, food, clothing, shelter, medicine, or medical services.
It can also involve failing to make a reasonable effort to protect a child from another person’s abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Depending on the facts, the State may rely on repeated conduct or one serious incident or omission.
Florida Statute § 39.01 states that parental or legal-custodian corporal discipline doesn’t by itself constitute abuse when it doesn’t result in harm. That rule isn’t a blanket defense. The nature of the act, the child’s age, the injury, the reason for the discipline, prior events, and the full medical and family history may all matter.
Aggravated child abuse is a first-degree felony under Florida Statute § 827.03. Child neglect that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement is a second-degree felony. Knowing or willful child abuse without those specified injuries and willful or culpably negligent child neglect without those injuries are third-degree felonies.
Under Florida Statute § 775.082 and Florida Statute § 775.083, ordinary maximum penalties include:
These are statutory maximums, not predictions. Criminal-history scores, injury findings, alleged conduct, additional charges, release status, and enhancement laws can affect the actual exposure.
Child abuse and aggravated child abuse are listed as dangerous crimes under Florida Statute § 907.041. At first appearance, a probable-cause finding can prevent nonmonetary release, and the State may seek pretrial detention when the statutory grounds apply.
A judge may impose no-contact orders, supervised-contact terms, residence restrictions, firearm conditions, or limits involving schools and children. A separate dependency or family case may affect custody, visitation, placement, services, and reunification. An order in one case doesn’t disappear because another court enters a different order, so counsel should compare them carefully.
Under Florida Statute § 775.089, a court may order restitution for qualifying medical expenses, counseling costs, or other loss connected to the offense. A child abuse charge doesn’t automatically suspend a Florida driver license.
The case may also affect employment, professional licensing, childcare or teaching work, housing, firearm rights, and background checks. A noncitizen may face serious immigration consequences depending on the statute, facts, plea, record, and sentence. Immigration advice should come before any plea.
Our office handles a wide range of Child abuse cases in Miami-Dade, including:
1
An injury doesn’t prove abuse by itself. We reconstruct the timeline, compare each account, inspect photographs and records, and examine whether a fall, play activity, medical event, or other accident better explains what happened.
2
The required mental state depends on the charge. We test whether the evidence proves a knowing or willful act, an intentional injury, or conduct that legally rises to culpable negligence instead of ordinary carelessness or a tragic mistake.
3
Bruising, fractures, developmental conditions, medication effects, birth injuries, and illness can have more than one explanation. We review the records, imaging, laboratory results, treatment history, timing, and qualified medical opinions rather than accepting an early assumption as the final answer.
4
Florida law recognizes that parental or legal-custodian discipline doesn’t itself constitute abuse when it doesn’t cause harm. We examine the purpose, method, injury, child’s age, family history, and witness accounts while recognizing that excessive or harmful punishment may fall outside that rule.
5
Children may disclose important facts, but repeated questions, suggestive wording, family conflict, adult pressure, memory gaps, or misunderstandings can affect an account. We compare recorded interviews, prior statements, messages, custody records, timelines, and the conduct of everyone who discussed the allegation.
6
Neglect charges may depend on whether the accused was legally a caregiver, had the ability and duty to act, failed to make a reasonable protective effort, and caused or risked the harm required by law. We also test whether the evidence supports the aggravated injury level or a lower degree.
1
Florida Statute § 39.201 requires immediate reporting when a person knows or reasonably suspects specified child abuse, abandonment, neglect, or sexual abuse. A report may lead to contact from law enforcement, the Department of Children and Families, a child protective investigator, or a Child Protection Team.
Don’t coach the child, confront the reporter, or destroy records. Preserve messages, photographs, school and medical documents, calendars, and the names of people who observed the child before and after the event.
2
Investigators may interview the child and adults, visit a home, collect photographs, obtain records, or request a medical examination. DCF may create a safety plan or seek court action while police investigate a possible crime.
A criminal lawyer represents the accused in the criminal matter. Dependency and family proceedings have different purposes and rules, so coordinated advice may be necessary.
3
If police make an arrest, the accused is booked and usually appears before a judge within 24 hours under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130. The court reviews probable cause and addresses release, contact with the child, residence, weapons, and other conditions.
Because child abuse and aggravated child abuse are dangerous crimes under Florida Statute § 907.041, release can involve special limits or a detention request. Defense counsel can challenge the legal basis and present Miami-Dade ties, employment, family duties, history, and a workable release plan.
4
An arrest doesn’t require the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office to file the same charge on the arrest form. The prosecutor may file a different degree, add charges, or decline prosecution after reviewing medical findings, interviews, photographs, records, and other evidence.
Early defense work can document an accident, obtain complete treatment records, locate witnesses, preserve communications, and correct missing context before that decision.
5
At arraignment, the court states the formal charge and takes a plea. Counsel often files a written not-guilty plea and may waive the client’s appearance when the rules and judge permit it.
6
The defense reviews police and DCF reports, recorded interviews, 911 calls, medical records, imaging, photographs, body-camera video, digital communications, school records, and witness statements. We compare the timing of the allegation with the child’s activities, symptoms, treatment, and prior history.
7
Depending on the facts, the defense may seek suppression of unlawfully obtained statements or evidence, limits on unreliable or unfair material, modification of release conditions, or dismissal when the law and undisputed facts permit it. Any negotiated resolution requires careful review of custody, employment, licensing, record, sentencing, and immigration consequences.
You decide whether to accept a plea after counsel explains the evidence, defenses, exposure, and collateral effects. Don’t accept an agreement you don’t understand.
8
If the case doesn’t resolve, the defense can take it to trial and require the State to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. A case may also end through a no-action filing decision, dismissal, reduced charge, negotiated plea, or court ruling, depending on its facts.
Your goal is to protect your freedom, family, livelihood, and future. You need a defense team that can move quickly, analyze sensitive medical and interview evidence, and prepare the criminal case for litigation from the start.
Albert Quirantes has practiced criminal defense for more than 35 years, represented more than 8,000 clients, and handled numerous jury trials. His firm enjoys more than 1,400 five-star Google reviews and serves clients in English and Spanish from its Miami office.
The attorney team includes former Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge and former prosecutor Stephen Millan, former prosecutor and former public defender Arthur Spiegel, bilingual attorney Jorge E. Alonso, and criminal defense trial lawyer Jonathan Ibañez, whose work includes legal technology and AI-based defenses. The team brings courtroom experience, prosecutorial insight, local knowledge, and modern evidence analysis to Miami-Dade child abuse cases.
Albert Quirantes, Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers is located at 1815 NW 7th Street, Miami, FL 33125.
No. Children can be injured through accidents, sports, medical conditions, ordinary play, or another person’s conduct. The State must prove the elements of the charged offense, not merely show that an injury exists.
No. Florida Statute § 39.01 states that corporal discipline by a parent or legal custodian doesn’t by itself constitute abuse when it doesn’t result in harm. The method, purpose, injury, child’s age, and surrounding circumstances still matter.
Aggravated child abuse covers specified conduct such as aggravated battery, torture, malicious punishment, unlawful caging, or knowing or willful abuse that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. It is a first-degree felony, while child abuse without those specified injuries is a third-degree felony.
Yes. Florida Statute § 827.03 permits a neglect allegation based on repeated conduct or a single incident or omission when the required serious injury or substantial risk is present. The defense can challenge the duty, mental state, causation, and level of risk.
Yes. A child-welfare investigation and a criminal investigation are separate processes with different standards and goals. A person should follow lawful safety plans and orders while getting advice about statements, searches, contact, and related court proceedings.
You should get legal advice before giving a recorded or detailed statement. An innocent person can still make a mistake about timing, use an unclear phrase, or answer without seeing the medical and interview evidence.
No individual witness controls the criminal filing decision. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office decides whether to file or continue charges, while DCF and a dependency court make separate child-welfare decisions.
It can but the defense shouldn’t assume every disputed report is intentionally false. We examine prior statements, court filings, messages, motives, interview methods, medical evidence, and independent witnesses to determine what the evidence actually supports.
That depends on the criminal release order, any dependency or family order, and any safety plan. Don’t rely on informal permission from another person when a written order limits contact. Ask counsel to compare the orders and seek a lawful change when appropriate.
Yes. The effect depends on the statute, charging language, facts, plea, sentence, occupation, licensing rules, and immigration status. Criminal, immigration, and licensing consequences should be reviewed before any plea.
The sooner the defense starts, the sooner your lawyer can preserve records, examine medical evidence, review interviews, and protect you from avoidable mistakes.
For help from Albert Quirantes, Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers, call or text 305-644-1800 for a free strategy session.