SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Salt Lake City Tribune
January 7, 2020
By Kathy Stephenson
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Utah clergy would be required to report all allegations of child abuse — even those gathered in a religious confessional — under a bill proposed for the 2020 legislative session.
HB90, sponsored by Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, would, if passed, remove the exemption that clergy now have in certain circumstances for reporting abuse.
Romero said many survivors of sexual abuse — as well as relatives of those who have been victimized — have contacted her to say they support such a change to state law.
“Their perpetrators went to confession, confided in a religious leader, and nothing ever happened,” she said. “The purpose is to get rid of the exemption and hold religious leaders to the same standard as teachers and doctors.”
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