Assault on a Minor in Texas: Felony Thresholds and Penalties

Assault on a minor in Texas can be charged as anything from a Class C misdemeanor to a first-degree felony carrying up to 99 years or life in prison. Which one applies turns on three things: the child’s age, how badly the child was hurt, and whether the accused is a family or household member. For children 14 and under, a dedicated statute makes every qualifying offense a felony. For minors 15 through 17, the general assault statute controls, and felony exposure depends on enhancements.

The Two Statutes That Drive the Charge

Texas prosecutes assaults on children under two main provisions of the Penal Code. Section 22.01 is the general assault statute that applies to any victim. Section 22.04, injury to a child, applies only when the victim is 14 years old or younger, and it has no misdemeanor version.1State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.04 – Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual

That age-14 cutoff is the single most important line in Texas law on this topic. A 14-year-old victim means the baseline charge is a felony. A 15-year-old victim means the baseline is a misdemeanor, with felony exposure only if enhancements apply.

Section 22.04 also reaches conduct that Section 22.01 does not. It covers omissions — a parent or caretaker who fails to act when they have a duty to protect a child can be charged the same as someone who directly caused the injury.1State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.04 – Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual And it reaches criminal negligence, meaning you do not have to intend harm for the charge to stick.

Penalties Under the Injury to a Child Statute

When the victim is 14 or younger, punishment under Section 22.04 depends on two variables: how severe the injury was, and the accused’s mental state (intentional, knowing, reckless, or criminally negligent).1State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.04 – Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual

State jail felony time is served day-for-day, with no parole eligibility. The higher felony tiers allow parole and good-time credits, but a first-degree conviction for intentionally injuring a child still means years in prison as a practical matter.

Penalties for Assault Against a Minor Age 15 to 17

For minors 15 through 17, the injury-to-a-child statute does not apply, and charges proceed under Section 22.01. The baseline penalties are the same as for any adult victim:

Those baselines can climb quickly. Several enhancements — described in the next section — turn a Class A misdemeanor into a felony, and any of them can apply when the victim is a teenager.

When a Simple Assault Becomes a Felony

Four enhancements do most of the work of pushing an assault charge past the misdemeanor line.

Aggravated assault. An assault becomes aggravated when the accused causes serious bodily injury or uses or displays a deadly weapon.9City of Houston. Family Violence Unit – Texas Law Aggravated assault is a second-degree felony by default, 2 to 20 years. It rises to a first-degree felony — 5 to 99 years or life — when both a deadly weapon is used and serious bodily injury results, and the victim is a family or household member or dating partner. A child living in the accused’s household satisfies that relationship element.

Strangulation. Assault by restricting a family or household member’s breathing or blood circulation, including pressing on the throat or blocking the nose or mouth, is a third-degree felony on its own.6State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.01 – Assault Add a prior family violence conviction and it climbs to a second-degree felony.

Prior family violence conviction. If the accused has a prior family violence conviction and commits another assault against a family or household member, the new offense jumps from Class A misdemeanor to third-degree felony. That converts a maximum of one year in county jail into a range of 2 to 10 years in prison.

Continuous violence against the family. Two or more assaults against a family or household member within a 12-month period can be charged as a single third-degree felony under Section 25.11.10State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 25.11 – Continuous Violence Against the Family The jury does not need to agree on which specific incidents occurred or on the exact dates. They only need to find, unanimously, that at least two qualifying assaults happened within the 12-month window.

What “Bodily Injury” and “Serious Bodily Injury” Actually Mean

These definitions decide which tier a case falls into, so they are worth reading carefully.

“Bodily injury” means any physical pain, illness, or impairment of physical condition.11State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 1.07 – Definitions A slap that leaves a red mark qualifies. So does a shove hard enough to cause pain. The threshold is low.

“Serious bodily injury” is a much higher bar. It means an injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes permanent disfigurement, or results in long-term loss or impairment of a body part or organ. That distinction — bodily injury versus serious bodily injury — sets the line between third-degree and second-degree felony exposure under the injury-to-a-child statute, and between misdemeanor and aggravated felony under the general assault statute.

Consequences Beyond the Criminal Case

An arrest for hurting a child almost always triggers a parallel investigation by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Under the Family Code, “abuse” includes physical injury causing substantial harm to a child, as well as a genuine threat of such harm.12State of Texas. Texas Code Family 261.001 – Definitions The CPS case runs on its own timeline, with its own investigators, and proceeds regardless of whether the criminal charge results in a conviction.

A felony conviction for assaulting a child is also strong evidence in a termination-of-parental-rights proceeding, and it carries the standard collateral consequences of any Texas felony: barriers to employment and housing, and a firearm prohibition. Texas felons cannot possess a firearm for five years after completing the sentence, and federal law imposes a lifetime ban for most felony convictions.

Because the same underlying conduct can support several different charges, the statute listed on the charging document is what controls the possible punishment. If you are dealing with a charge involving a child, get the exact code section and subsection from the indictment or information before assessing exposure. The gap between a state jail felony and a first-degree felony under these statutes is decades.