The Purpose Behind the New Law
Lawmakers believed some situations went beyond child abuse and aggravated child abuse. They wanted a statute that captured:
• exceptionally cruel conduct
• exceptionally depraved conduct
• a pattern of serious injuries
• prolonged abuse over time
Before 2025, prosecutors relied on aggravated child abuse for these cases. That statute did not require cruelty, depravity, or a course of conduct. The Legislature concluded the worst cases needed a separate offense with a mandatory prison term.
How Utah Defines Child Torture
A person commits child torture when they intentionally or knowingly cause a serious injury in one of two ways:
1. Exceptionally cruel or depraved conduct
The act itself is cruel or depraved, and the child experiences extreme physical or psychological pain.
2. A pattern or prolonged period of serious injuries
The injuries occur as part of a course of conduct or over a prolonged period.
Both versions require intentional or knowing conduct.
Mandatory prison
Child torture is a first degree felony. It carries:
• at least ten years to life, unless a narrow exception applies
• mandatory incarceration
No other child abuse crime in Utah carries a mandatory minimum like this.
How Child Torture Differs from Child Abuse (76-5-109)
Child Abuse covers minor injuries and emotional harm, including bruises, cuts, small abrasions, malnutrition, or psychological injury.
Key differences
• Injury level: Child abuse involves minor or moderate injuries. Child torture always involves serious injury.
• Intent: Child abuse can be reckless or negligent. Child torture must be intentional or knowing.
• Conduct: Child abuse can be a single event. Child torture focuses on cruelty or a pattern of harm.
• Penalty: Child abuse is usually a misdemeanor. Child torture is a first degree felony with a ten year minimum.
From a defense perspective, proving the injury is not serious can move a case out of child torture and into a far lower category.
How Child Torture Differs from Aggravated Child Abuse (76-5-109.2)
Aggravated child abuse covers serious injuries and sits between child abuse and child torture. But it does not require cruelty or a course of conduct.
Key differences
• Intent: Aggravated child abuse can be intentional, reckless, or negligent. Child torture requires intentional or knowing conduct.
• Nature of the act: Aggravated child abuse focuses on the injury itself. Child torture requires extreme cruelty or a pattern of serious injuries.
• Legal boundary: By statute, aggravated child abuse applies only when the facts do not amount to child torture.
• Penalty: Aggravated child abuse can be a first degree felony, but it does not carry a mandatory ten year minimum. Child torture always does.
For defense attorneys, this line is critical. A single serious injury may be aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors may still try to stretch the facts to claim cruelty or a pattern. Challenging the meanings of exceptionally cruel, depraved, and course of conduct becomes essential.
Why These Distinctions Matter
The differences among these three charges control:
• whether a defendant faces a misdemeanor or felony
• whether a mandatory sentence applies
• how much discretion a judge has
• whether probation is possible
• how prosecutors negotiate pleas
• how juries view intent and injury level
Because the child torture statute is new, prosecutors may push its boundaries. Defense attorneys must focus on:
• whether injuries qualify as serious
• whether the conduct meets the high bar for exceptional cruelty
• whether multiple injuries actually form a course of conduct
• whether the defendant acted intentionally or knowingly
• whether the case fits aggravated child abuse instead of child torture
Small factual differences now carry major legal consequences.
Conclusion
Child torture is Utah’s most serious child injury crime. It requires intentional or knowing conduct, serious injury, and either extreme cruelty or a pattern of harm. It also carries a mandatory ten year prison term.
Child abuse and aggravated child abuse remain important but serve different roles. They address lower injury levels, lower intent requirements, and situations without cruelty or prolonged harm.
For anyone facing these accusations, the distinctions matter. The line between aggravated child abuse and child torture is narrow, and the stakes are enormous.