Virginia legal term
Parent in Virginia Criminal Law
Current through 2026 Virginia legislative session
In Virginia criminal law, “Parent” is a term defined by statute rather than by its everyday meaning. Its statutory definition — quoted verbatim below — controls how the term is applied throughout the Virginia criminal code.
What does “Parent” mean in Virginia criminal law?
"Parent" includes parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person standing in loco parentis. (Va. Code Ann. § 16.1-278.1)
Statutes defining or using this term
Charges using this term
- Abduction and kidnapping defined
- Concealing or compounding offenses
- How accessories after the fact punished
- Sexual intercourse by persons forbidden to marry
- Trespass upon church or school property
- Abuse and neglect of children
- Allowing access to firearms by children
- Causing, inciting, etc., commission of act proscribed by § 18.2-83
- Causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent, abused, etc
- Crimes against nature
- Failing to secure medical attention for injured child
- Female genital mutilation
Related terms in the same statutes
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.