MANDATED REPORTERS
ARTICLES/INFORMATION/RESEARCH
Cuomo signs bill requiring private schools to report allegations of sex abuse
"ALBANY — Private schools will be required to report to law enforcement all allegations of sexual abuse, under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Cuomo.
The new law puts private schools on equal footing with public schools, which have been required for years to automatically report abuse to law enforcement, parents and education officials.
It also expands who must be mandatory reporters to any employee or volunteer whose duties involve direct student contact as well as contracted bus drivers.
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NY Daily News, December 7, 2018
Global Catholic nuns urge reporting of sex abuse to police
"ROME (AP) — The Catholic Church's global organization of nuns has denounced the "culture of silence and secrecy" surrounding sexual abuse in the church and is urging sisters who have been abused to report the crimes to police and their superiors.
The International Union of Superiors General, which represents more than 500,000 sisters worldwide, vowed to help nuns who have been abused to find the courage to report it, and pledged to help victims heal and seek justice.
The statement, issued on the eve of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, was the first from the Rome-based UISG since the abuse scandal erupted anew this year and as the sexual abuse of adult nuns by clergymen has also come to light. The Associated Press reported earlier this year that the Vatican has known for decades about the problem of priests and bishops preying on nuns, but has done next to nothing to stop it.
In the statement Friday, the UISG didn't specify clergy as the aggressors. While such abuse is well known in parts of Africa, and an Indian case of the alleged rape of a nun by a bishop is currently making headlines, there have also been cases of sexual abuse committed by women against other women within congregations."
AP (International), November 24, 2018
Granddaughter of founders of Christian-based TV network gets $2M from jury after grandmother declines to report her sexual assault
"Carra Crouch, now 24, says she was assaulted when she was 13 by a Trinity Broadcasting Network employee in an Atlanta hotel room. When she reported it to her grandmother, the employee was fired and the assault was kept quiet, according to Carra Crouch."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, June 6, 2017
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier convicted of child endangerment
"The jury, which began deliberations early Thursday afternoon, acquitted Spanier of a separate count of child endangerment and of conspiracy but delivered a conviction on the other charge he faced, stemming from a 2001 incident in the Penn State locker room. Spanier, 68, offered no reaction when the verdict was announced. "
https://www.washingtonpost.com, March 24, 2017
Judge denies motion to dismiss charge against Marion teacher accused of failing to report child abuse
"Sixth Judicial Associate District Judge Russell Keast said there is no legal basis to dismiss the charge against Diane Graham, 59, at this time. Graham is charged with failure to report child abuse as a mandatory reporter, a simple misdemeanor."
http://www.thegazette.com, Aug 5, 2017
Amish bishop pleads guilty in Dauphin County court to failure to report child abuse
"An Amish bishop pleaded guilty in Dauphin County court last week to a charge of failure to report child abuse.
Christ M. Stoltzfus, 70, of Elizabethville, entered the plea Thursday before Judge Deborah E. Curcillo and was sentenced to three months probation, according to the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office.
State police launched an investigation in January after a confidential source alleged child sexual abuse in the Amish community."
Lancaster Online, September 11, 2017
Melbourne archbishop says he'd rather go to jail than report child abuse heard in confession
"The archbishop of the archdiocese of Melbourne, Denis Hart, said he would risk going to jail rather than report allegations of child sexual abuse raised during confession, and that the sacredness of communication with God during confession should be above the law.
He was responding to a report from the child sex abuse royal commission calling for reforms that, if adopted by governments, would see failure to report child sex abuse in institutions become a criminal offence, extending to information given in religious confessions."
The Guardian (Australia), August 14, 2017
Bridgewater State day care director ignored warnings in rape cases
"A teacher at the Bridgewater State University day care center approached her supervisor, Judith Ritacco, in early March 2015, concerned.
"(Ritacco) was notified by a teacher - that (Kyle) Loughlin was zeroing in on a certain child and that they (the teacher) had a 'really weird feeling about him,' " Assistant District Attorney David Cutshall read from court documents at Brockton District Court, Thursday.
Later in that month, again, a teacher approached Ritacco with concerns about Loughlin, saying that he had been rubbing the upper thigh of a child, which made the teacher uncomfortable, Cutshall said. But again Ritacco did not report it."
The Brockton Enterprise, September 8, 2017
'Several' warrants isssued in school district child abuse case
"Warrants were issued for several Okaloosa County School District employees Tuesday in connection with a 2016 child abuse investigation at Kenwood Elementary School.
Bill Eddins, state attorney for 1st Judicial Circuit, confirmed Tuesday afternoon that "several" individuals will receive warrants with charges ranging from child abuse to failure to report suspected child abuse."
NWFDailyNews.com, September 13, 2017
Government falls in shocking scandal involving one of Iceland's most notorious child abuse cases
"Following wide outrage in Icelandic society after it was revealed yesterday that the Minister of the Interior had lied to Parliament and kept information from the public and that the Prime Minister had also kept information from the public, the junior coalition partner, the centrist Bright Future, has announced it will no longer support the government. The Prime Minister has yet to appear publicly.
Bright Future made the decision to withdraw from the coalition government at a meeting yesterday evening. The announcement was made shortly after midnight. At the heart of the story is fallout from a child abuse scandal which had ensnared the father of the Prime Minister, Benedikt Sveinsson. Mass protests have been announced in front of the house of parliament today afternoon at 16:00."
Iceland Magazine, September 15, 2017
Louisiana Supreme Court: Priests Don't Have To Report Child Abuse
"In a disappointing decision that puts children at risk, the Louisiana Supreme Court rules that Catholic priests are not "mandatory reporters" of child abuse when administering sacramental confession.
The Oct. 28 ruling finds that laws which categorize priests as "mandatory reporters" of suspected child abuse do not apply to priests who discover such information while hearing confessions."
http://www.patheos.com, November 1, 2016.
Former Westport swim coach pleads guilty to sex assaults
"BRIDGEPORT — A former swim coach at Staples High School in Westport is facing up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to repeatedly sexually assaulting two young Fairfield girls over a three-year period."
"Jeffrey Schare pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault. Devlin said he would impose the 8-year term along with lifetime sex offender registry when Schare is sentenced Oct. 3."
blog.ctnews.com, July 28, 2014.
