crimes against person

vocabulary

Child domestic battery

When a child commits an act of violence against a parent, sibling, or other family member living in the home.

Aggravated battery

A battery that intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or was committed with a deadly weapon.

Sexting

A minor using a computer or other electronic device, such as a cell phone, to transmit or distribute a nude photograph or video to another minor regardless of whether the minors consented to the act.

Domestic battery by strangulation

A felony battery that is battery against a family or household member or someone with whom the victim is in a dating relationship; the primary aggressor knowingly and intentionally impedes the victim’s breathing or blood circulation against their will by applying pressure on the throat or neck, or by blocking the victim’s nose or mouth.

Aggravated child abuse

When a person either commits aggravated battery on a child; willfully tortures, maliciously punishes, or willfully and unlawfully cages a child; or knowingly or willfully abuses a child, causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement.

Coercion

Exploitation of authority or the use of bribes, threats of force, or intimidation to gain cooperation or compliance.

Human trafficking

Transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, enticing, maintaining, purchasing, patronizing, procuring, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.

Maliciously

Wrongfully, intentionally, and without legal justification or excuse, and with the knowledge that injury or damage will or may be caused to another person or the property of another person.

Interference with custody

To knowingly or recklessly take or entice, or aid, abet, hire, or otherwise procure someone else to take or entice, a minor or incompetent person from the custody of the parent, guardian, public agency, or any other lawful custodian, or when the parent, whether natural or adoptive, stepparent, legal guardian, or relative who has custody takes a minor or incompetent person with malicious intent to deprive the other person of their right to custody.

Physically helpless

Unconscious, asleep, or for any other reason physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.

Mentally defective

A mental disease or disorder that renders a person temporarily or permanently incapable of judging their conduct.

Carjacking

Robbing of a person of their vehicle to permanently or temporarily deprive the victim of their motor vehicle and take it for the subject’s own or someone else’s use by using force, violence, assault, or by placing the victim in fear during the course of the robbery.

Stalking

Unwanted and repeated attention, contact, or harassment by a suspect toward a victim.

Cyberstalk

To communicate or cause to be communicated, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communication to a specific person, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose.

Aggravated assault

An assault committed with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, or with an intent to commit a felony.

Rigor mortis

The stiffening of body muscles after death.

Lividity

The color change from settling of blood due to gravity after death.

Sudden Unexpected Infant Death

A broad term that encompasses Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), accidental infant suffocation and strangulation in bed, and other deaths from unknown causes.

Abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult

An offense in which the suspect knowingly or willfully inflicted intentional physical or psychological injury, committed an intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or psychological injury, or actively encouraged another person to commit an act that resulted in or could reasonably have been expected to result in physical or psychological injury.

Battery

A criminal offense in which the offender intentionally touched or struck the victim against the victim’s will, or the offender intentionally caused bodily harm to the victim.

Child neglect

When a caregiver omits food, nutrition, clothing, shelter, medicine, and medical services essential for the well-being of a child, regardless of age.

Felony battery

An offense in which the suspect actually and intentionally touches or strikes a victim against their will, and causes significant injury, great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the victim; also occurs when someone has a previous conviction for battery. Felony battery does not involve a conscious intent to cause great bodily harm; however, it does include the intent to touch or strike a victim against their will.

Luring or enticing a child

When a legal adult intentionally lures or entices, or attempts to lure or entice, a child younger than 12 into a structure, dwelling, or conveyance for an unlawful purpose.

Cause of death

The specific injury or disease that leads to death.

Mental injury

As related to child abuse, injury to the intellectual or psychological health of a child.

Endangered person

A missing child younger than 18; a missing adult younger than 26; a missing adult older than 26 and believed to be in danger or the victim of criminal activity; or a missing adult older than 18 who meets the criteria for a Silver Alert; agency policies may also include persons with diminished, developmental, or intellectual capacity, regardless of age.

Missing adult

A person 18 or older whose temporary or permanent residence is in Florida, whose location is not known, and who is reported missing to a law enforcement agency.

Assault

A criminal offense in which the offender intentionally and unlawfully threatened, either by word or act, to do violence to the victim; and at the time the offender appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat; and the victim had a well-founded fear that the violence was about to take place.

Manner of death

The determination of how the injury or disease leads to death; five manners of death are natural, accidental, suicide, homicide, and undetermined.

Algor mortis

The postmortem cooling of the body.

Missing child

A person younger than 18 whose temporary or permanent residence is in Florida, whose location is not known, and who is reported missing to a law enforcement agency.

Exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult

To knowingly obtain or use, attempt to obtain or use, or conspire with another to obtain or use the victim’s funds, assets, or property; or intend to deprive the victim of the use, benefit, or possession of the funds, assets, or property temporarily or permanently; or doing this benefits someone other than the victim; or the subject is in a position of trust and confidence or has a business relationship with the victim; or the subject knows or reasonably should know that the victim lacks the capacity to consent.

Mentally incapacitated

A person temporarily incapable of judging or controlling their own conduct due to the influence of a narcotic, anesthetic, or intoxicating substance administered without their consent or due to any other act committed upon them without their consent.

Kidnapping

To forcibly, secretly, or by threat confine, abduct, or imprison another person against their will without lawful authority and with the intent to hold the victim for ransom or reward, or as a shield or hostage, commit or help with the commission of a felony, inflict bodily harm upon or terrorize the victim or another person, or interfere with the performance of any government or political function.

Credible threat

A verbal or non-verbal threat, or a combination of the two, that places someone in reasonable fear for their safety or the safety of their family and friends.

Neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult

An offense in which the suspect willfully failed to provide the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the physical or mental health of an elderly person or disabled adult, or failed to make a reasonable effort to protect them from abuse, neglect, or exploitation by another person. The abuse may be repeated conduct or a single incident that resulted in a serious physical or psychological injury, or a substantial risk of death.

False imprisonment

To forcibly, secretly, or by threat confine, abduct, imprison, or restrain another person without lawful authority.

Sexual battery

Non-consensual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another; anal or vaginal penetration of another by any other object.

Physical injury

Death, permanent or temporary disfigurement, or impairment of any bodily part.

Home invasion robbery

When a subject enters a victim’s dwelling to commit robbery while the victim is present and aware that a robbery is taking place, and uses force, violence, assault, or places the victim in fear during the robbery.

Instrumentalities of the crime

The items used by the defendant to commit the crime.

Domestic violence

Not a specific crime but actions that include any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another.

Child pornography

Any image depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct and may include children posing in a lewd and lascivious manner or performing a sexual act.

Dating violence

Violence between individuals who have or have had a continuing and significant relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.

Child abuse

Knowingly or willfully abusing a child younger than 18 by intentionally inflicting physical or mental injury, committing an intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury, or actively encouraging another person to commit an act that results in or could reasonably have been expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child.

Mental injury

From child abuse, an injury to the intellectual or psychological health of a child.

Caregiver

A parent, adult household member, or other person who is responsible for a child’s welfare or who might have legal custody of a child; for a disabled adult or elderly person, a person who has been entrusted with or has assumed responsibility for the care of an elderly person or disabled adult and their property. A caregiver includes relatives, court-appointed or voluntary guardians, adult household members, neighbors, health care providers, and employees and volunteers of facilities.

Homicide

The act of one human taking the life of another; types include murder, justifiable homicide, vehicular homicide, manslaughter, and DUI manslaughter.

Legal custody

A legal status created by a court, which appoints a custodian or guardian, whether an agency or an individual (for example, the Department of Children and Families, or a member of a child’s extended family), the right to have physical custody of the child and the right and duty to protect, nurture, guide, and discipline the child, or the right to provide the child with food, shelter, education, and ordinary medical, dental, psychiatric, and psychological care.

Consent

Actively agreeing to do something or giving permission for something to happen; it is intelligent, knowing, and voluntary consent, and does not include submission by coercion

Canvass

An inquiry of all possible sources of information surrounding the incident or crime scene; happens most often when the suspect leaves the scene.

Family or household member

Spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are residing together as a family, or who have resided together in the past as a family, and persons who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married; with the exception of persons who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently residing, or have in the past resided, together in the same single dwelling unit.