Gerratana, Urban Consider Expanding Sex Abuse Reporter List

Prompted by the sex abuse scandal now enveloping Pennsylvania State University, state Sen. Terry Gerratana, who represents New Britain and part of Farmington, and state Rep. Diana Urban (D-North Stonington) said today they will examine who's required to report child sexual abuse in Connecticut. Gerratana and Urban co-chair the legislature's Select Committee on Children.

They said their work could result in legislation that would require all adults who have either witnessed, or have knowledge of, a sexual assault on a child to report that incident to police.

The legislators’ concern stems from the ongoing sex abuse scandal at Penn State, where a former defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team is facing 8 counts of child molestation over a 15-year span, beginning in 1994. A graduate coaching assistant reportedly witnessed an act of child rape in 2002 by the former defensive coordinator, and reported it to the head coach, who then reported it to his superiors — but the defensive coordinator (who has denied the charges) was not arrested and charged with any crimes until November 5, 2011.

“The Penn State scandal is a wake-up call for lawmakers to examine if the laws we have on the books to protect children are doing the job. That was clearly not the case in Pennsylvania,” Urban said. “Laws that require teachers, doctors and other professional to report these crimes are not enough. It’s the responsibility of all adults to report these sexual assaults on children."

“We want to ensure that our children are protected here in the State of Connecticut, that’s the bottom line. Mandating that all adult knowledge of sex abuse be reported is one way to accomplish that,” Gerratana said.

The legislators say it is also important to know what the reporting policies are at the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut State University System.

“I would guess that the parents of students at Penn State thought policies were in place to report sexual assaults to all the appropriate authorities,” Rep. Urban said. “Now, they know better. I don’t want that to happen in Connecticut.”

“If you choose to believe the reputation of your institution is more important than the safety of a child, you should be prepared to face criminal penalties,” said State Representative Gerald Fox III, House Chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. “We need to make it very clear that the failure to report the molestation of a child is a crime.”

According to the state Department of Children and Families, Connecticut law already requires certain citizens to report suspected child abuse and neglect when, in the course of their employment, they have reasonable cause to suspect or believe that a child under the age of 18 has been abused, neglected or is placed in imminent risk of serious harm.

Under Section 17a-101 of the Connecticut General Statutes, the list of mandated reporters includes:

• Any person paid to care for a child in any public or private facility, child day care center, group day care home or family day care home which is licensed by the state
• Department of Children and Families Employees
• Department of Public Health employees responsible for the licensing of child day care centers, group day care homes, family day care homes or youth camps.
• Foster Parents 
• Licensed Physicians and Practical Nurses
• Members of the Clergy
• Mental Health Professionals
• Parole Officers and probation Officer (Juvenile or Adult)
• Police Officers
• Psychologists
• Registered Nurses
• School Employees and School Coaches or Coaches of Intramural or Interscholastic Athletics
• and more

Under state law, “child abuse” occurs where a child has had physical injury inflicted upon him or her other than by accidental means, has injuries at variance with history given of them, or is in a condition resulting in maltreatment, such as, but not limited to, malnutrition, sexual molestation or exploitation, deprivation of necessities, emotional maltreatment or cruel punishment.

“Child neglect” occurs where a child has been abandoned, is being denied proper care and attention physically, emotionally, or morally, or is being permitted to live under conditions, circumstances or associations injurious to his well-being.

Information submitted by the State House Democrats.