I.A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child or incompetent if he knowingly endangers the welfare of a child under 18 years of age or of an incompetent person by purposely violating a duty of care, protection or support he owes to such child or incompetent, or by inducing such child or incompetent to engage in conduct that endangers his health or safety.
II.In the prosecution of any person under this section, the tattooing or branding by any person of a child under the age of 18 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child.
II-a. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the placement of a child for adoption or the attempt to place a child for adoption in violation of RSA 170-B:33 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child.
III.In the prosecution of
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I. A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child or incompetent if he knowingly endangers the welfare of a child under 18 years of age or of an incompetent person by purposely violating a duty of care, protection or support he owes to such child or incompetent, or by inducing such child or incompetent to engage in conduct that endangers his health or safety.
II. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the tattooing or branding by any person of a child under the age of 18 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child.
II-a. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the placement of a child for adoption or the attempt to place a child for adoption in violation of RSA 170-B:33 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child.
III. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the solicitation by any person of a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity as defined by RSA 649-A:2, III for the purpose of creating a visual representation as defined in RSA 649-A:2, IV, or to engage in sexual penetration as defined by RSA 632-A:1, V, constitutes endangering the welfare of such child.
[Paragraph III-a effective January 1, 2026.]
III-a. (a) For the purposes of prosecution under this section, an owner or operator of a computer online service, Internet service, or bulletin board service, including a provider of an artificial intelligence (AI) chat program, large language model artificial intelligence bot, chat bot, character AI, or other computer application, the sole purpose of which is to provide responsive open-ended generative communication through the use of artificial intelligence, commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a child if the owner or operator knows at the time that they direct the communication to the child that the communication is made with the intent to facilitate, encourage, offer, solicit, or recommend that the child imminently engage in:
(1) Sexually explicit conduct.
(2) The production or participation in the production of a visual depiction of such conduct.
(3) The illegal use of drugs or alcohol.
(4) Acts of self-harm or suicide.
(5) Any crime of violence against another person.
(b) This paragraph shall not apply to:
(1) A cloud service provider, or a provider of a telecommunications service or an information service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. section 153, with respect to the provision of content created by or supplied on behalf of another person; or
(2) Any product, service, website, or application that provides an AI chat program or character that is integral or incidental to a video game, television, streaming, movie, or other similar interactive experience.
IV. A person who pursuant to the tenets of a recognized religion fails to conform to an otherwise existing duty of care or protection is not guilty of an offense under this section.
V. A person who endangers the welfare of a child or incompetent by violating paragraph III of this section is guilty of a class B felony. All other violations of this section are misdemeanors.
VI. No person acting in accordance with the provisions of RSA 132-A shall be guilty of an offense under this section.