Key point 4-08. Every state has a child abuse reporting law that requires persons designated as mandatory reporters to report known or reasonably suspected incidents of child abuse. Ministers are mandatory reporters in many states. Some states exempt ministers from reporting child abuse if they learned of the abuse in the course of a conversation protected by the clergy-penitent privilege. Ministers may face criminal and civil liability for failing to report child abuse.
Failure to Report Child Abuse
A Minnesota court ruled that a failure by church leaders to report known cases of child abuse as required by state child abuse reporting law did not expose the church to liability.
Two adult females (the plaintiffs) claimed that they had been sexually molested over several years when they were minors by the same adult male (Don). They also claimed that their parents were aware of the molestation, ...
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