Clergy abuse reporting bill gets tweaked, but Catholic church likely to oppose it

A bill that would mandate clergy report disclosures of abuse will be modified, but it may not be enough to win over its critics.

House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, told FOX 13 News on Thursday she is amending her bill to only mandate that disclosures of child sexual abuse and exploitation be reported to law enforcement. She confirmed that would remove any requirement clergy report physical abuse.

“It focuses on child sex abuse, so clergy would have to report if it’s child sex abuse,” Rep. Romero said, adding the decision was made with the support of sexual abuse survivors and victim advocates she has been working with.

The House Minority Leader’s bill is one of four pieces of legislation that have been filed in the Utah State Legislature following recent cases of sexual abuse involving faith groups in the stateincluding The Church of Jesus Christ of…