Amid revelations that a number of officials failed to inform authorities about the Penn State child-abuse scandal, child advocates and prosecutors say Georgia’s mandatory reporting law should cast a wider net to protect more children from being victimized by sexual predators.
The recent, highly publicized indictment accusing former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky of molesting children over 15 years has already resulted in more referrals to investigate possible child sex abuse, local child advocates said. It also has lawmakers looking into expanding the law and legal experts concerned about the potential cost and impact of such a scenario.
Under Georgia law, doctors and medical personnel in Georgia must report suspicions of child sex abuse, but most members of the clergy are not required to do so. School teachers and administrators must also report their suspicions, but many coaches are not mandated to do so.
Georgia’s law lists 16 categories of professionals who must report suspicions of child sex abuse. The failure to do so can result in a misdemeanor conviction with punishment of up to one year in prison. The statute also allows -- but does not mandate -- anyone with reasonable suspicion of abuse to report it to authorities.
DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said he believes that members of the clergy should be covered by the mandatory reporting law. He said his office has investigated two suspected cases of child sexual abuse at churches during the past year.
“Too often, we run into a wall of silence. It’s very frustrating,” James said. “In churches and other religious institutions, people do not have to tell about it because they’re not mandatory reporters.”
James said the law should also require anyone who assumes temporary custody and care of children be a mandatory reporter. This would mean individuals such as coaches, babysitters, martial arts instructors and camp counselors must report their suspicions, he said.
State Rep. Rich Golick, a Smyrna Republican who chairs the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, said lawmakers are now reviewing the mandatory reporting law and will meet with district attorneys next week to discuss the issue.
The Penn State controversy has already led to proposed legislation in Congress that calls for all adults to be required to report suspicions of child sex abuse to law enforcement or child protective services. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said his bill would require states to mandate such reporting in order to receive federal social services funding.
“If common sense doesn’t dictate when and to whom an adult should report child abuse, this law will,” he said. “The bottom line is simple: If you see something, say something.”
Georgia prosecutors have effectively applied the mandatory reporting law. In 2005, for example, a former middle school teacher was convicted of failing to report signs of child abuse against an 11-year-old girl, who was later beaten to death by her father and stepmother in their Stockbridge home.
A number of metro parents expressed surprise the state’s law does not apply to everyone.
“I’m appalled,” said Buckhead resident Sylvia Williams, a 46-year-old mother of four. “If any adult is witness to a crime, which is what sexual abuse is, they’re obligated to report it.”
Kim Cunninghis, a Sandy Springs mother of two, agreed.
“All adults should be morally bound for the protection of children,” Cunninghis said. “It just seems like something that all parents would insist on. Why limit it to certain groups? Why give everybody else a pass? Why not hold everybody equally accountable?”
Nancy Chandler, CEO of the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, said people should be required to call 911 and let law enforcement know if they have suspicions of child sex abuse.
“If we could make all adults mandated reporters, I think that would go a long way to help people understand that we all have a responsibility to protect children,” she said.
Based on recent referrals, Chandler said some good has come from the case against Sandusky.
“Parents are sitting down with their children and telling them if someone touches you, come tell me,” she said. “I’ve been in this business for a lot of years and for me to turn on the news and hear about sexual abuse during a sports program is amazing. If something good can come out of this story, it’s that people are talking about this. People are having those conversations with their children that they so desperately need to have.”
Since news of the Sandusky case broke, Chandler said, her office has seen an uptick in referrals from law enforcement and the state Department of Family and Children Services for forensic interviews with children. “This is going on all over the country, not just Georgia,” she said.
Sandusky is charged with molesting eight boys over a 15-year span. He recently told NBC he is innocent.
Alan Cook, the former district attorney for Walton and Newton counties, said Georgia’s mandatory reporting law works well in that it requires allegations of child sex abuse to be turned over to trained professionals who know how to investigate such crimes.
But Cook, now a University of Georgia law professor, said he was unsure about proposals to require all adults to be mandatory reporters.
“When you have professionals with a certain level of training to recognize abuse and know what steps to take next, that’s one thing,” he said. “But bus drivers, clerks, street sweepers, they’re not going to know what they’re looking for. In fact, they likely won’t even know such a law exists.”
Amy Russell, deputy director of the National Child Protection Training Center in Winona, Minn., said if all adults are required to report their suspicions there needs to be enough funding to provide adequate training for that. There also needs to be more resources to handle an expected increase in reports, she said.
What’s most important, Russell added, is for members of the public to be made aware of the consequences if they fail to report suspicions of child abuse to authorities. “Without being reported, a predator could become emboldened and continue abusing that child and then abuse other potential victims in the future,” she said.
The allegations against Sandusky, once a revered former coach, are a case in point. “Sadly,” she said, “these are the kinds of cases we see coming across our desk everyday.”
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Those required by law to report suspicion of child sexual abuse:
- Doctors, nurses, dentists and hospital and medical personnel
- Licensed psychologists
- Professional counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists
- School teachers, guidance counselors, psychologists and social workers
- Child welfare agency and child service organization personnel
- Law enforcement officers and personnel
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