By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris
UNDERSTAND MANDATORY REPORTING LEGISLATION: State and federal laws increasingly mandate reporting of child abuse and neglect. Every state has reporting requirements mandating reports of abuse and neglect of vulnerable populations, specifically children and minors. In addition, as of Feb. 14, 2018, federal legislation makes every adult involved in youth sports a mandated reporter of sexual abuse, regardless of state law requirements. These state and federal laws create reporting requirements related to a variety of risks, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and maltreatment, and relate to specific groups of people (children, special needs and vulnerable adults). Where sexual abuse is concerned, the trend is towards identifying every adult as a mandatory reporter, including clergy, by law.
Understand the Limitations of ‘Clergy Privilege’: The clash between child protection and clergy privilege is an ongoing issue for state legislatures. Clearly, protecting children from child sexual abuse is a compelling state interest — a governmental interest so important it outweighs individual rights. As such, the importance of protecting children outweighs many other rights that might conflict with this compelling interest.
While historically recognized, clergy privilege is increasingly being narrowed or removed by state legislatures when it conflicts with child protection.
In states where clergy privilege currently exists, the privilege is often much narrower than ministry leaders believe. Clergy privilege does not provide blanket protection over all information received by a minister. Rather, many state legislatures have redefined clergy privilege to significantly limit protected information. Others have simply removed the privilege altogether, and this is the trend.
For mandatory reporters, failure to report is a crime, and prosecution of ministry leaders for failure to report has significantly increased, particularly in light of high-profile cases getting appreciable media attention. Some states are creating reporting requirements for adult-to-adult disclosures of past child sexual abuse under certain conditions (e.g., if it’s necessary to protect another child or if the alleged abuser holds a position of trust related to children). In the past, it would be up to the reporting adult whether he or she chose to report past abuse, largely based upon an understanding of inherent privacy interests. As state legislatures continue to prioritize child protection over the privacy rights of an adult abuse survivor, this trend will continue.
Understand How Child Sexual Abuse Manifests in Ministry Environments: When ministry staff members better understand the grooming process of the preferential offender — how an offender gains access to children, grooms a child for sexual touch and subsequently keeps the child silent — that staff member is better equipped to recognize risky behavior as it is encountered; before the offender has molested a child. With effective training, ministry leaders develop ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ predatory behavior, which give rise to appropriate reporting. In other words, don’t wait until an individual is caught in a compromising position with a child to suspect a problem might exist.
Have the Courage to Take Action: Ministry leaders often fear making a false accusation, but academic studies have indicated for decades that false allegations are rare (2%-3%). Here’s the reality: child sexual abuse allegations commonly involve behavior that is difficult to believe about an individual who is difficult to suspect.
By creating very broad reporting obligations and requiring that reasonable suspicions of abuse be reported, each state legislature has decided that the safety and welfare of the child outweigh the potential inconvenience to an adult (or another child, in peer-to-peer sexual abuse scenarios). Keep in mind, molesters groom the gatekeepers, working to convince ministry leaders that he or she is helpful, trustworthy and responsible.
For mandatory reporters, failure to report is a crime with increasingly severe penalties, including felony charges in some states. When in doubt, REPORT.
Understand Reporting Best Practices:
• Adopt a victim-centric approach, which prioritizes the well-being of the victimized child above all else.
• Create a response plan that emphasizes the importance of training staff members and volunteers to recognize, understand and report child sexual abuse.
• Report immediately to law enforcement or child protective services when an allegation or reasonable suspicion of child sexual abuse is received, regardless of the wishes of the alleged abuser or the child’s parents.
• Be prepared for potential opposition from congregants or staff members, particularly if the alleged bad actor is well-known or well-liked.
• Provide care and support for the victimized child(ren), including transparent communication with parents and congregants.
• Offer to pay for counseling with a licensed professional counselor of the victim’s (or family’s) choice.
• Notify other parents when appropriate, as transparency builds trust and empowers parents to protect their children.
• Make public statements characterized by transparency to avoid the perception of ‘cover-up’; resist the temptation to prioritize the ministry’s reputation.
• Consider conducting an internal or third-party investigation with a victim-centric mindset, after reporting to authorities, to identify systemic issues and improve safety elements. Never investigate as a condition of reporting, which can disrupt law enforcement efforts.
• Before an internal investigation begins, ministry leaders should clearly lay out the purpose of the fact-finding inquiry or investigation. Fact-gathering can be useful to the ministry when it occurs with a victim-centric approach, concurrent with providing care for the victim(s) and after notifying authorities.
• If the alleged bad actor ‘wore your name tag’ as a staff member or volunteer, immediately notify your insurance carrier in writing: failure to do so can jeopardize coverage. Most insurance policies require the insured to notify the insurance carrier when a circumstance arises that could give rise to a claim. Insurance carriers expect to be notified before a fully formed crisis develops, in order to have an opportunity to mitigate damages, if possible. In many cases, insurance companies provide funds for counseling care, initial ministry response, and access to public relations services, before any claim is filed.
• Report historical allegations related to your ministry program, if the alleged abuser served as your employee or volunteer, even if they occurred long ago. Any other response doesn’t pass the ‘smell test’ and can be perceived as cover-up.
• Create a written record of each report, kept in a secure location, and only accessible by staff members with a genuine need to know.
To properly protect children in its care, the Church must become more skilled at preventing abuse, recognizing signs and symptoms of abuse, and recognizing predatory behavior. A ministry’s willingness to recognize and report suspicions of abuse forms a key element in protecting the children it serves. If every allegation or suspicion of child sexual abuse is reported by church leaders to appropriate authorities, the Church and Christ-based ministries become a true sanctuary for the most vulnerable among us: our children.
Kimberlee Norris and Gregory Love are partners in the law firm of Love & Norris and founders of MinistrySafe. After representing victims of child sexual abuse for more than two decades, Love and Norris saw recurring, predictable patterns in predatory behavior. MinistrySafe grew out of their desire to place proactive tools into the hands of ministry professionals. For more information about the authors, see LoveNorris.com.
