Sex-abuse witness-reporting legislation proposed in Pennsylvania

[ShyGuyInChicago]

Sex-abuse witness-reporting legislation proposed in Pennsylvania | lehighvalleylive.com (http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2011/11/legislation_proposed_in_pennsy.html)

This might be political opportunism or it might be a public need, but Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Deasy (http://www.pahouse.com/deasy/), D-Allegheny, said this morning in a news release he's proposing legislation to expand requirements for mandatory reporting of sexual abuse of a child.

The proposal comes just hours after Penn State University fired football coach Joe Paterno (http://topics.lehighvalleylive.com/tag/joe paterno/index.html) and President Graham Spanier (http://topics.lehighvalleylive.com/tag/graham spanier/index.html) in the wake of revelations that an graduate assistant saw former defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (http://topics.lehighvalleylive.com/tag/jerry sandusky/index.html) allegedly rape a child in 2002 in a university locker room shower. Paterno reported to the athletic director that the graduate assistant told him about the crime. But Paterno did not contact police, nor did Spanier.

Paterno and Spanier have not been charged with crimes, although athletic director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz were charged with not reporting the assault and perjury.“I was saddened to learn about recent reports by the (Pennsylvania) Attorney General that there were individuals that had direct knowledge of alleged sexual crimes against children and did not report it to law enforcement,” Deasy said in the release.

His bill would require someone who witnesses child sexual abuse or someone who is informed by a witness to report it to law enforcement, according to the release. Failure to do so would be a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The current law only requires people who witness abuse to report it to their supervisor or "authority of the institution," Deasy said. The current law is limited to those who work directly with children, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and social workers, he said. “The reporting of a sexual offense against a child is the moral and ethical thing to do,” Deasy said. “I want to make it the legal thing to do and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in standing up for our children.”


I find this an interesting development in this case because on this site I have created debates about mandatory reporting.

[Jess]

ah yes the scandal. well I agree with the proposal

[Amaryllis]

I can't speak for all children who've been sexually abused - but I would be absolutely horrified if the police came into my house and arrested my father and took me in for questioning. The absolute shame I would have to go through and god, my mother, grandmother, aunts and uncles? I could never deal with that.

I think you should ask the victim before reporting such things. How are you even sure this is true? They could be making this bullshit up and that would cause the "victim" unnecessary embarrassment. You're not the one that's been abused. You can talk to them and encourage them to speak up, but in the end the choice should be theirs.

I'd rather wait out the 3 years than end up in an orphanage or foster home, away from my super expensive school and my best friend. I'd rather no one ever found out than have people look at me like I'm this poor, weak little creature.

[ShyGuyInChicago]

I can't speak for all children who've been sexually abused - but I would be absolutely horrified if the police came into my house and arrested my father and took me in for questioning. The absolute shame I would have to go through and god, my mother, grandmother, aunts and uncles? I could never deal with that.

I think you should ask the victim before reporting such things. How are you even sure this is true? They could be making this bullshit up and that would cause the "victim" unnecessary embarrassment. You're not the one that's been abused. You can talk to them and encourage them to speak up, but in the end the choice should be theirs.

I'd rather wait out the 3 years than end up in an orphanage or foster home, away from my super expensive school and my best friend. I'd rather no one ever found out than have people look at me like I'm this poor, weak little creature.

I can understand that shame that victims go through, and I am sorry that you had to go through such a nightmare. But I think asking a victim permission first only makes since if the victim is a competent adult since a competent adult (generally) knows how to make a decision that is right for them. With children the reason why there are mandatory reporting laws is because the child may be powerless to report the abuse themselves. With adults they are usually not powerless and if the abuse is not reported it is assumed that they are able to but choose not to. Children do experience shame, but they may not have the judgement skills to decide whether charges should be brought because they do not have a complete understanding of what happened to them and its ramifications.

[Fiction]

I think that it perhaps should be a law, but it should be flexible. I mean, for example if there was a family, and the father was sexually abusing the child. The mother knew about the abuse, but the father was also abusive to her. She may be fearing for her own safety, and even life, if she told the police of what was happening. Would it then be fair to arrest her for not reporting it?

I think in some cases it's just right to report it, but in others people have their own reasons for not doing so. It needs to be done on a case of case basis, rather than a "one size fits all" type thing.