LAWRENCE (KS)
KCTV
October 15, 2018
By Angie Ricono
A Kansas family says their son’s sexual assault was ignored by church leaders who were more interested in protecting the church than the 10-year-old boy.
A Kansas family says Kansas clergy should be mandated reporters.
They have started an online petition calling on Kansas lawmakers to change the law.
They feel former church leaders at Eagle Rock Church in Lawrence compromised their son’s criminal case by how they handled the allegations. The church denies the claim and says they followed state statutes.
The debate exposes the different ways churches across the nation handle allegations of sex abuse.
In Missouri, clergy are mandated reporters, but that is not the case in Kansas.
Across the nation, it’s a split issue with a little more than half of all states requiring clergy to directly report allegations to police.
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