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Beyond unpaid support, the Code punishes abandonment in its widest sense: ceasing to perform the duties of parental authority and assistance (226), materially abandoning a minor or disabled person (229-230), handing them to third parties or to begging (231-232).
In brief. These offences surface in acute family crises, with social services and the juvenile prosecutor on scene. Criminal abandonment requires placing the minor outside every sphere of protection: a temporary absence without concrete danger rarely constitutes the offence, though it may trigger an administrative risk file whose reports can later found the criminal route.
Beyond the non-payment of support, the Criminal Code punishes abandonment in its broadest sense: the breach of the legal duties of assistance inherent to parental authority, guardianship or care (Article 226), the material abandonment of a minor or of a disabled person needing special protection (Articles 229 and 230), and their delivery to third parties or use for begging (Articles 231 and 232). These offences appear in acute family crises, with social services and the juvenile prosecutor already on scene.
The defence demands a double perspective, criminal and family. The protection file (risk or desamparo) is administrative, but its reports end up with the juvenile prosecutor and can found the criminal route of Article 229. That is the moment to act: submissions, a documented family plan and technical defence on both tracks prevent the file from becoming a criminal case. And the ancillary penalty often matters more than the principal one: disqualification from parental authority of four to ten years.
| Conduct | Article | Penalty framework | Key factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family abandonment | 226 | 3 – 6 months or fine | Total disengagement from legal duties |
| Abandonment by carer | 229.1 | 1 – 2 years | Outside every sphere of protection |
| By parents or guardians | 229.2 | 18 months – 3 years | The qualified subject aggravates |
| With concrete danger | 229.3 | 2 – 4 years | Life, health, integrity or sexual liberty |
| Temporary abandonment | 230 | One degree lower | Episode versus desamparo |
| Delivery to third parties | 231 | Fine; 6 months – 2 years with danger | Informal handovers |
| Begging | 232 | 6 months – 1 year; 1 – 4 aggravated | Trafficking, violence or substances |
| Ancillary disqualification | 233 | 4 – 10 years | Often the consequence that matters most |
Penalty ranges are indicative and set out the ordinary framework; the sentence actually imposed depends on the circumstances of each case.
The defence orders the facts: who held effective care at each moment, the duration of the absence, the child’s age, the conditions and the absence of real danger. Criminal abandonment requires placing the minor outside every sphere of protection; the temporary episode without concrete danger degrades to Article 230 or remains in administrative territory. For complainants, the combined strategy presses harder than any single route: the criminal complaint alongside family measures, deprivation of parental authority and custody.
And the administrative front is decisive: the protection file’s reports feed the prosecutor. Submissions, a documented family plan and coordinated technical defence on both tracks are what prevent an expediente from becoming a criminal case.
Parents reported after an episode: the border between the lapse and the offence, and the parallel protection file.
Parents facing the other’s total disengagement: Articles 226 and 227 combined with family measures.
Guardians, foster carers and institutions: delimitation of the duty of care actually held.
Families under social-services scrutiny: preventing the administrative file from becoming a criminal case.
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