H. Incapacity of a Child

• Library: The Criminal Law of South Carolina (SCBar) (2014 Ed.)

H. Incapacity of a Child

When a child is charged with a crime there are instances in which the common law recognizes the inability of children to comprehend that their actions are in violation of the law. Traditionally, it has been the law that a child under the age of seven is conclusively presumed to be unable to form the intent to commit a crime and there is a rebuttable presumption that children between the ages of seven and fourteen are similarly incapable.

[U]nder our law, where a person is under

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