Legislation would make clergy mandatory reporters

Cheektowaga Bee
July 23, 2020

https://www.cheektowagabee.com/articles/legislation-would-make-clergy-mandatory-reporters/

Legislation introduced by Assembly member Monica Wallace titled the CARE Act has passed the Assembly this week.

The Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act would add clergy members to the list of mandatory reporters of child abuse and maltreatment, “closing a loophole that allowed for the proliferation and cover-up of child abuse,” according to Wallace.

The act was introduced last year, weeks after passage of the Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for survivors of child abuse to file civil claims and provided a temporary period during which survivors could file a claim regardless of how long ago the alleged abuse occurred.

“In the wake of this legislation, plaintiffs filed hundred of lawsuits accusing hundreds of clergy members of acts of abuse and maltreatment against children and teenagers,” said Wallace in a release.

The assembly member noted that the Child Victims Act was retrospective but that the CARE Act is prospective and seeks to prevent further abuse from transpiring in the first place.

“The Child Victims Act was an important first step in bringing abusers to justice and righting the wrongs of the past,” she said. “Now we need to go further and close the loopholes in state law that allowed for the cover-up and proliferation of child abuse. This legislation adds clergy of all denominations to the long list of mandatory reporters. By doing so, the CARE Act seeks to prevent the future victimization of children.

“With this legislation, clergy members join teachers, social workers, counselors and dozens of other professionals who are obligated to report child abuse and maltreatment,” she continued. “No child should suffer, and no abuser should evade justice because someone knew but didn’t report an occurrence of one of these horrific crimes.”