Thames v. State

The law as enunciated in Bean v. State (1984) Ind., 460 N.E.2d 936, and subsequent cases separates the victim’s status as a dependent of someone from the neglect perpetrated by a third person.1 For this reason, I concur.

The traditional analysis of neglect and dependency focused upon the parent-child, child-parent relationship, or at a minimum upon a loco parentis relationship, e.g., a guardian. See Dirk William de Roos Dependency and Neglect: Indiana’s Definitional Confusion 45 Ind.L.J. 606 (1970). It did not embrace temporary custodians such as babysitters.

In any event, it seems that the law…