Corbett expects change before end of the year
By Caleb Taylor | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — In the wake of the alleged child sex abuse scandal at Penn State University, state lawmakers have introduced bills to strengthen the mandatory child abuse reporting law.
"It is clear that a loophole exists in our law," said state Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-Philadelphia. "My legislation would close that loophole by requiring those who are aware of the abuse to report it to law enforcement authorities, rather than simply following an in-house chain of command."
In addition to Boyle’s bill, state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, wants the state to increase criminal penalties for failure to report child abuse.
The state’s required reporting law specifies that professionals who “in the course of employment, occupation or practice of their profession, come into contact with children” must report any suspected abuse
A bill introduced by state Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, would create a new offense for sexual assault by a sports official — specifically applying to coaches, referees and other employees of sports organizations.
That measure is designed to target groups like The Second Mile, which was founded by former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. According to a grand jury report, Sandusky found his alleged victims through the organization.
A victim activist group said the proposals would aid law enforcement, but a law professor said they would be an “over fix” to the problem.
Cathleen Palm, a member of the Protect our Children Committee, an activist group that works to prevent child abuse, said requiring reports to be sent directly to law enforcement would make the reporting process more efficient than the current law's requirement of reports going to "the person in charge of the institution."
“Reports should be made immediately (to law enforcement or children services) so you don’t expose the victim to multiple interviews, which exposes victims to additional trauma and hinders the criminal process,” said Palm, who added that law enforcement officers are trained in interviewing abuse victims.
However, Wes Oliver, an associate professor at Widener School of Law in Harrisburg, said the chain-of-command approach works well at smaller institutions like schools where a teacher who suspects or witnesses abuse notifies a principal, but that chain of command can be confusing at large institutions such as Penn State University.
Oliver added that unintended consequences could occur if every report was filed directly with law enforcement.
“Law enforcement may get bombarded with false (information) from people who have axes to grind, want to make trouble and are seeking whistle blower status,” said Oliver.
According to the most recent 2010 Child Abuse report by the state Department of Public Welfare, which investigates child abuse reports, 3,656 of the 24,615 reports investigated qualified as child abuse. ChildLine, the state's child abuse hotline, received 121,868 calls in total.
State Rep. Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, chairman of the House Children and Youth Committee, said lawmakers have to look beyond the immediate reaction to the Penn State scandal.
"We're in deficit policy making, where we look at what's wrong. We have to look at how we make this right," O'Brien said during a Tuesday press conference. "All of us have to own this conversation."
While no specific legislation has garnered significant support, the House and the Senate appeared willing to discuss changes to the mandatory reporting law. Even Gov. Tom Corbett said on the NBC program "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he "wouldn't be surprised if a bill was passed between now and by the end of the year."
Bill Patton, spokesman for House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said there was “widespread sentiment (from House Democrats) that an appropriate bill would move very quickly.”
Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said the Senate would “likely consider” Ward’s legislation that increases the penalties for failure to report child abuse.
Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, said it was important to strike a balance with any new laws.
"The goal is to punish the guilty, but you also have to protect the innocent," Miskin said.
Ward’s bill would make the first offense of failure to report a first-degree misdemeanor and a third-degree felony for subsequent violations. Currently, the penalty for a first offense is a fine with a third-degree misdemeanor for subsequent violations.
Ward said the Senate Aging and Youth Committee is expected to pass a resolution Wednesday that would create a Child Protection and Accountability Commission to evaluate the overall system of child protection between state and county agencies.
The Commission will include representatives from the state House, Senate, Office of Attorney General and the Governor’s Office.
Tim Curley, Penn State University former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the school’s former vice president for business and finance are charged with perjury to a grand jury and failure to report child abuse allegedly committed Sandusky.
Sandusky is charged with sexual assault against a minor, and the grand jury report details eight separate incidents in which Sandusky allegedly abused boys as young as 8 years old between 1996 and 2005.
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