Too Bad I Take Things Seriously-Chapter 551 - 220 Refuse to provide for the elderly, should we send 4 sons to prison instead?_4

This is what constitutes the crime of abandonment. As for simply not supporting the elderly, that seems entirely unrelated to the crime of abandonment.

"Of course not."

Qin Mu shook his head and explained, "The crime of abandonment refers to an act of refusing to support a person who is elderly, young, sick, or otherwise incapable of living independently, despite having a legal obligation to do so. Crucially, the circumstances of this refusal must be egregious."

"The crime of abandonment primarily applies to three categories of individuals: the elderly, the young, and the sick. Furthermore, this obligation to provide support is generally limited to family members. Any family member who has this duty and refuses to fulfill it may be committing this crime."

"For this act to constitute a crime, three conditions must be met. First, the perpetrator must have a legal obligation to provide support. If no such obligation exists, the crime is not established. For instance, a younger brother typically has no legal obligation to support an older brother, whereas children do have an obligation to support their elderly parents."

"Second, the perpetrator must be capable of providing support but refuses to do so. ’Capable’ means having independent financial means sufficient to meet their own minimum living standards, as well as those of their children and dependent elderly relatives (according to local standards at the time), with some surplus."

"And from Feng Cuihua’s description, her four sons are all financially well-off. The eldest owns two properties in Jin City, and the fourth son has also bought a house there. They are fully capable of fulfilling their support obligations without incurring financial hardship themselves."

"Third, the perpetrator’s actions must be deemed extremely egregious to constitute the crime of abandonment. A general refusal to provide support does not, in itself, meet this criterion."

"However, in Feng Cuihua’s case, all four sons consider her a burden. For four years, they have provided no financial or living assistance. Now that she lacks money for her nursing home fees, they are all evading responsibility and refusing to support her. Not one of her four sons is fulfilling his support duties. With more evidence, it’s likely that the ’egregious circumstances’ requirement could be met."

"Regarding sentencing, Article 261 of the Criminal Law stipulates the penalties for refusing to support an elderly, young, sick, or otherwise dependent person when obligated to do so and when the circumstances are egregious. The penalty is up to five years of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, or public surveillance. The maximum sentence for this crime is five years of fixed-term imprisonment."

"Five years’ imprisonment?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Cuihua suddenly became conflicted. She could bring herself to sue her four sons. But to have all four of them locked up... She simply couldn’t be so heartless. No matter how they treated her, they were her own flesh and blood, children she had painstakingly raised.

"Only five years?"

Zhang Qingyuan, however, raised his eyebrows, his expression dismissive. Accustomed to seeing sentences of ten or twenty years, he now looked down on a mere five-year term. He felt that such a light sentence was practically no sentence at all.

"This crime is typically a public prosecution case, but generally, it’s handled as a private prosecution," Qin Mu explained, observing Feng Cuihua’s hesitation. "And in a private prosecution, the lawsuit can be withdrawn any time before the verdict is announced. My suggestion is... you could try to teach them a lesson, at least to get some justice for yourself."

He had a grasp of Feng Cuihua’s personality now. She was somewhat timid and couldn’t be assertive. It was precisely because of this, he thought, that her sons had become the way they were.

"The crime of abandonment is defined as a matter for public prosecution under criminal law, typically pursued by the public prosecutor’s office. However, in many instances, the prosecutor’s office doesn’t involve itself in such lawsuits. In practice, individuals often have to gather evidence and file the lawsuit themselves. Furthermore, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, all private prosecution cases can be withdrawn before the verdict is announced."

"Moreover, even if they are sentenced, this type of crime usually results in a suspended sentence rather than actual imprisonment." Seeing Feng Cuihua still hesitating, Qin Mu patiently added, "With a suspended sentence, they wouldn’t go to jail, but it would still be very unpleasant for them."

Then, he elaborated on the specifics of suspended sentences and the reform conditions. He explained that for the individuals involved, a suspended sentence could sometimes be more distressing than actual imprisonment, as everyone around them would know the reason for it, and they would have to report to the community weekly.