"Tort" law refers to civil action, not criminal acts. Correct?
I'm sure you're correct. I just know that one can be held criminally liable for beginning first aid and then stopping either a) until help arrives or b) until one is physically exhausted and can no longer carry on. If a person doesn't begin aid, then he/she is not liable. And to begin aid, you merely have to initiate contact.
For instance, you see a guy knocked out and lying face down on the train tracks. You go to turn him over and realize it's the guy that your wife had an affair with. If you then turn around and say, "Screw this guy", you are criminally liable (not simply because of the malicious intent, I only used that for an example) because once you took action by touching him or whatever else that might constitute "involvement", you assumed responsibility.