S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-95

This is the official text of S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-95, part of South Carolina’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of South Carolina, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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SECTION 16-3-95. Infliction or allowing infliction of great bodily injury upon a child; penalty; definition; corporal punishment and traffic accident exceptions.

Official statutory text

(A) It is unlawful to inflict great bodily injury upon a child. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than twenty years. (B) It is unlawful for a child's parent or guardian, person with whom the child's parent or guardian is cohabitating, or any other person responsible for a child's welfare as defined in Section 63-7-20 knowingly to allow another person to inflict great bodily injury upon a child. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years. (C) For purposes of this section, "great bodily injury" means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious or permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. (D) This section may not be construed to prohibit corporal punishment or physical discipline which is administered by a parent or person in loco parentis in a manner which does not cause great bodily injury upon a child. (E) This section does not apply to traffic accidents unless the accident was caused by the driver's reckless disregard for the safety of others.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.