People v. Standerfer

• Decision Date: 19 January 1950
• Docket Number: Gen. No. 49011
• Citation: 90 N.E.2d 229,339 Ill.App. 454
• Parties: PEOPLE v. STANDERFER.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 229

90 N.E.2d 229

339 Ill.App. 454

PEOPLE v. STANDERFER.

Gen. No. 49011.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Jan. 19, 1950.

F. R. Wiley, James G. Allen and Charles I. Derr, Decatur, for plaintiff in error.

J. Richard Royal, State's Attorney, Fayette County, Vandalia, for defendant in error.

BARDENS, Presiding Justice.

Eloise Standerfer, plaintiff in error (hereinafter referred to as defendant), was convicted, upon trial by jury, in the County Court of Fayette County, Illinois, of the crime of contributing to the dependency and neglect of her seven minor children under the provisions of paragraphs one and two of an act entitled 'An Act to define and punish the crime of contributing to the dependency and neglect of children' (Ill.Rev.Statutes, 1947, Chap. 38, Sections 100 and 101). She was sentenced to serve six months imprisonment in the county jail and to pay a fine of one hundred dollars and costs. From this judgment, the defendant has sued out a writ of error to this Court.

The defendant has assigned fifteen errors as cause for reversal. We will first discuss together assigned error number 1, which complains of the overruling of a motion to quash the amended information; number 10, which complains of the overruling of a motion in arrest of judgment; and number 12, which sets out that the information is void because it does not state a crime.

A proper analysis of the three contentions mentioned necessitates setting out the two sections of the statute involved. Section 1 of the act defines a dependent or neglected child as follows: 'For the purposes of this Act a dependent and neglected child shall mean any male who while under the age of 17 years or any female who while under the age of 18 years, for any reason is destitute, homeless or abandoned; or dependent upon the public for support; or has not proper parental care or guardianship; or habitually begs or receives alms; or is found living in any house of ill fame or with any vicious or disreputable person; or has a home which by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity on the part of its parents, guardian or any other person in whose care it may be is an unfit place for such child; and any child who while under the age of 10 years is found begging, peddling or selling any articles or singing or playing any musical instrument for gain upon the street or giving any public entertainments or accompanies or is used in aid of any person so doing.'

Section 2 of the Act provides a penalty for contributing to the dependency or neglect of a child, the relevant part of which section reads as follows: 'Any parent, legal guardian or person having the custody of a male under the age of 17 years or of a female under the age of 18 years, who shall knowingly or wilfully cause, aid or encourage such person to be or to become a dependent and neglected child as defined in section 1, or who shall knowingly or wilfully do acts which directly tend to render any such child so dependent and neglected, or who shall knowingly or wilfully fail to do that which will directly tend to prevent such state of dependency and neglect shall be deemed guilty of the crime of contributing to the dependency and neglect of children and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200.00 or by imprisonment in the county jail, house of correction or workhouse for not more than one year or both by such fine and imprisonment.'

The trial in this case was upon an amended information consisting of two counts. Both counts set out that the defendant was the mother and had the custody of her seven minor children, the same being five girls of the ages of 12, 11, 7, 5, and 3 years, and two boys of the ages of 9 and 4 years. Count I, after setting out the formal matter and the above custody and ages of the children, then proceeded to charge that on the 26th day of July, 1948, and on diverse dates prior thereto, the said Eloise Standerfer 'did fail to provide the proper parental care to said minor children and did fail to provide said children with the proper and suitable food and clothing and did leave said children at night for several hours unattended and did keep said children in a home, which by reason of her neglect was an unfit place for said children * * *.'

Count II, after alleging the formal part and the information about the names and ages of the children, then charges that the said Eloise Standerfer did on the 26th day of July, 1948, and on diverse dates prior thereto 'fail to provide suitable food and clothing for said children and failed to keep them from being dependent upon the public for support, did fail to give them proper parental care, in that she did fail to remain at home with them and did leave said children unattended in the night time while she was away from home without any reasonable cause and did fail to keep said home clean and a fit place for said children but on the contrary left the said children without food and clothing and the...