State v. Laemoa

This appeal by defendant raises a single question: Did the acts of defendant which culminated in her relinquishing her four-year-old daughter to another in exchange for a money payment constitute the crime of child abandonment as defined in OES 163.535?

Although defendant makes several assignments of error, ① our principal concern is to define the elements of the crime of child abandonment under the above statute.

There is no substantial dispute as to the facts.

Defendant, who is separated from her husband, is the mother of three small children. Living next door to her was a woman who felt…