The grand jury investigation into suspected child abuse by Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator at Penn State, and investigation of the athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz, suggests that some people need a reminder about child abuse reporting rules.
Reports so far state that Sandusky is accused of abusing boys, at least one incident which was witnessed by a graduate assistant at the school. Although reported, the incident simply went up the chain of command at the school and at no time did anyone contact the police or child protective services.
According to the law in Pennsylvania, where the incidents reportedly occurred, "Professionals who come into contact with children are required to report when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child under the care, supervision, guidance or training of that person or of their agency, institution or organization is an abused child."
You would think that they would just report the incident to child protective services, but in Pennsylvania, the law states that "Required reporters who work in an institution, school, facility or agency shall immediately notify the person in charge of the institution, school, facility or agency or the person in charge's designee of suspected abuse." The person in charge is then supposed to report the incident to ChildLine - Pennsylvania's child welfare services hotline.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that happened. Maybe it would have if the procedure was simpler. Instead of notifying "the person in charge," why not just report the incident yourself?
That's how it works in many other states. For example, in Texas, mandated reporters must report suspected abuse directly to a state or local law enforcement agency or the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. According to the Attorney General of Texas, simply "reporting suspected child abuse to your principal, school counselor or superintendent will NOT satisfy your obligation under this law."
The requirement to report suspected child abuse in Texas isn't limited to certain professional mandated reporters though. Texas is one of only 18 states that requires any person to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The other states are Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
The attention the Sandusky case is getting will hopefully get more states to look at their child abuse reporting laws, so that all states have laws that can best protect our children.
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Will this scandal prompt people in every other state to reform their laws to make it obligatory for anyone who witnesses or suspects sexual abuse to report it to the police? (there are plenty of states which are like PA). And the law must be retroactive too to make it mandatory for anyone to report abuse they have witnessed in the past, IMO.
Unless people act in concrete measures, simply punishing two or three individuals will change nothing for other victims out there.
And don’t you think there is something terribly wrong with the law, when after aiding and abetting in the sexual abuse of countless children, all that happens to these criminal individuals is that they RESIGN from some freaking job? To go on vacation using their millions of dollars, no doubt.
This makes me sick to my stomach. How in the world we can STOP child abuse for good? I cannot imagine the impact on the abused children. They forever will need mental health therapy? There must be a way to train our children to defend themselves against those sick mind monsters that prey on innocent victims. We need to implement child abuse training for all private or public schools and institutions around the country or wherever there are children involved. We need to openly talk about this terrible problem in our society. This is a disease that needs preventive care. W we have to stop these animals before they hurt another child! We need to review and change the law and severely punish people who engage in this criminal behavior, for example: a radical surgical procedure to lack the interest, making them infertile by removing the organs of male mammals, and female mammals preventing them from functioning effectively and making them incapable of hurting another child again. Our children need to be safe.