Can a Three-Year-Old Be Charged With Assault or Sued?
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I am not sure, just trying to find out of a person can charge a 3 year old with assult.
Attorney Answer
No. A three-year-old cannot be charged with assault, and naming a toddler as a defendant in a lawsuit will not get you anything.
New Mexico handles alleged offenses by children through the Children's Code. The Delinquency Act's definitions — "delinquent act," "delinquent child," "delinquent offender" — sit at NMSA 1978, § 32A-2-3, and "child" is defined for the Children's Code generally at NMSA 1978, § 32A-1-4. Those provisions frame who can be brought into the juvenile justice system at all. New Mexico does not set an express minimum age by statute; the reason a three-year-old sits outside the system entirely is the older common-law rule that a child that young cannot form the criminal intent an offense requires. No prosecutor will file a delinquency petition against a three-year-old.
The civil side hits the same wall from another direction. Assault and battery are intentional torts, and a three-year-old cannot form that intent. A toddler also has no assets, so a judgment would collect nothing. Parents are not automatically responsible for everything a child does; where a parent is liable it is because of the parent's own conduct — knowing about a specific danger and failing to supervise. That claim runs against the adult, not the child.
What you can do
1. Write down what happened — date, time, who was present, what injury or damage resulted — while it is fresh. 2. Photograph any injury or damage and keep medical or repair bills. 3. Put your complaint to the child's parent or guardian in writing, stating what you want done. That adult is the only realistic target of any claim. 4. Ask whether the family carries renters' or homeowners' insurance and make a claim there; that is how most of these are actually resolved. 5. If you are a tenant and this involves another household in the building, report it to the landlord in writing — repeated incidents can be a lease matter for the landlord to handle. 6. If a child is being left unsupervised or is being harmed, that is a report to CYFD, not a lawsuit.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a restraining order against a three-year-old?
No court is going to enter an order restraining a toddler, and it would accomplish nothing. If your real concern is a household or an adult in it, direct any protective request at the adult. If the concern is supervision of the child, that is a CYFD matter.
Can I make the parents pay for what the child did?
Possibly, but not automatically. Liability would rest on the parents' own conduct — for example, that they knew of a specific risk and did not supervise. You would sue the parents, present that evidence, and prove your actual damages.
Will the police take a report at all?
They may document the incident, but they will not charge a three-year-old. A report can still be useful as a dated record if you later pursue the parents or make an insurance claim, so ask for the report number.
