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Penal Law § 260.21 · Article 260. Offenses Relating to Children, Disabled Persons and Vulnerable Elderly Persons

Unlawfully dealing with a child in the second degree

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)

§ 260.21 Unlawfully dealing with a child in the second degree.

A person is guilty of unlawfully dealing with a child in the second degree when:

1. Being an owner, lessee, manager or employee of a place where alcoholic beverages are sold or given away, he permits a child less than sixteen years old to enter or remain in such place unless:

(a) The child is accompanied by his parent, guardian or an adult authorized by a parent or guardian; or

(b) The entertainment or activity is being conducted for the benefit or under the auspices of a non-profit school, church or other educational or religious institution; or

(c) Otherwise permitted by law to do so; or

(d) The establishment is closed to the public for a specified period of time to conduct an activity or entertainment, during which the child is in or remains in such establishment, and no alcoholic beverages are sold, served, given away or consumed at such establishment during such period. The state liquor authority shall be notified in writing by the licensee of such establishment, of the intended closing of such establishment, to conduct any such activity or entertainment, not less than ten days prior to any such closing; or

2. He marks the body of a child less than eighteen years old with indelible ink or pigments by means of tattooing; or

3. He or she sells or causes to be sold tobacco in any form to a child less than twenty-one years old.

It is no defense to a prosecution pursuant to subdivision three of this section that the child acted as the agent or representative of another person or that the defendant dealt with the child as such.

Unlawfully dealing with a child in the second degree is a class B misdemeanor.

Source of truth

Edition
Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
Official file
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/PEN260.21
Text hash
sha256 d89425acaff928c97997331206cb1b9a596dbb5fd8f9e0e39abb0064bbba6d01
Composed by
gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.