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Committees Advance Bills Related to Sex Abuse Scandal

By Robert Swift
Altoona Mirror
April 16, 2019

http://www.altoonamirror.com/uncategorized/2019/04/committees-advance-bills-related-to-sex-abuse-scandal/

Two House committees advanced bills Monday to implement some of the lesser-known recommendations of last year’s state grand jury report on child sex abuse.

The grand jury, which identified more than 300 priests accused of sexually abusing thousands of children over the course of decades, made four recommendations for legislative action. The two proposals concerning Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases have gotten the most public attention so far.

The committees on Monday tackled the jury recommendations dealing with confidentiality agreements for child sex abuse victims and reporting requirements for suspicions of child sex abuse.

The Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve House Bill 1171, sponsored by Rep. Tarah Toohill, R-Luzerne, to specify that civil confidentiality agreements with abuse victims that include bans on communicating with law enforcement are “void and unenforceable.” The bill would apply to past and present confidentiality agreements.

The bill is a response to a jury finding that Catholic dioceses used these non-disclosure agreements to silence abuse victims from speaking publicly or cooperating with law enforcement, said Toohill.

Passing the bill will enable law enforcement inform to inform victims that they can speak out, she added.

“They [victims] have their agreements and believe they are still unable to come forward,” said Toohil.

The Children and Youth Committee approved House Bill 1051 sponsored by Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery, to clarify when higher penalties apply for failing to report child sex abuse.

Stephens said he plans to offer a floor amendment to the bill today that will include agreed-to language changes.

HB1051 applies a higher penalty of third-degree felony for an “ongoing” failure to report continuing sexual abuse “while the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe the abuser is likely to commit additional acts of child abuse.” This language is taken from the grand jury report.

The bill would close loopholes in a 2014 state law mandating reporting of suspected child sex abuse by virtue of someone’s profession or position, said Stephens, who noted he sponsored that law in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. A retired Penn State coach, Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of multiple counts of sexual abuse of children.

“We are in no way imposing any additional obligations on mandated reporters,” said Stephens.

The Children and Youth Committee also voted 20-4 to pass House Bill 835, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Westmoreland, to give county child welfare caseworkers access to a child’s medical, school and other records to the extent permitted by federal law during the course of an investigation into suspected child abuse.

Currently, caseworkers can’t access a child’s records without a signed parental release in each case. Rep. Brett Miller, R-Lancaster, voted against the bill saying it would bypass parents.

 

 

 

 

 




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