TUCSON (AZ)
Arizona Daily Star [Tucson AZ]
May 10, 2023
Re: the April 13 article “Arizona court upholds clergy privilege in child abuse case.”
I was horrified to learn that Arizona state law does not require religious officials to report child sex abuse if they learn of it in a confessional setting (ARS 13-3620, section A). How many more children must have their lives ruined before this law is changed?
Child sex abuse occurs much more frequently than most of us realize. I was once told by a prosecutor that a small LDS-founded Arizona town has a higher per capita child sex abuse rate than Phoenix. In many cases, church officials know of this and do not report it. This must end.
Unfortunately, it is probably too late in this legislative session to introduce a bill to remedy this situation. Nevertheless, I urge everyone to contact their legislators and bring this to their attention so it may be remedied as soon as possible.
Kathleen Dubbs
West side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.