SECTIONS 15656 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 15656

15656. (a) Any person who knows or reasonably should know that a
person is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances or
conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully
causes or permits any elder or dependent adult to suffer, or inflicts
unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering upon him or her, or
having the care or custody of any elder or dependent adult, willfully
causes or permits the person or health of the elder or dependent
adult to be injured, or willfully causes or permits the elder or
dependent adult to be placed in a situation such that his or her
person or health is endangered, is punishable by imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison for two,
three, or four years.
(b) Any person who knows or reasonably should know that a person
is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances or
conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or
death, willfully causes or permits any elder or dependent adult to
suffer, or inflicts unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering
on him or her, or having the care or custody of any elder or
dependent adult, willfully causes or permits the person or health of
the elder or dependent adult to be injured or willfully causes or
permits the elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation such
that his or her person or health may be endangered, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(c) Any caretaker of an elder or a dependent adult who violates
any provision of law prescribing theft or embezzlement, with respect
to the property of that elder or dependent adult, is punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the
state prison for two, three, or four years when the money, labor, or
real or personal property taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950), and by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding
one year, or by both that imprisonment and fine, when the money,
labor, or real or personal property taken is of a value not exceeding
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).
(d) As used in this section, "caretaker" means any person who has
the care, custody, or control of or who stands in a position of trust
with, an elder or a dependent adult.
(e) Conduct covered in subdivision (b) of Section 15610.57 shall
not be subject to this section.