A Disclosure You Don't Believe Is Still a Mandated Report

What happens if a child comes to you with a disclosure of abuse that you have trouble believing, either because the disclosure doesn't fit objective facts or the child has been caught in lies before now? The short answer, is that you report anyway. One of the incidents contained in the report about abuse in the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) illustrates one reason why.

The link to the report itself currently is not working, but news organizations who were able to review it have summarized several problem areas. One incident involves a former lay pastor, Mark Rivera, who currently is facing criminal charges for child abuse. Apparently, individuals told the church priest, who says that the church attorney told him that he was exempt from mandatory reporting laws. The lawyer in turn told investigators that he found the allegations hard to believe.

I understand the concern about victims who bring stories that are hard to believe. Sometimes, however, the victims' ability to process information has been affected by their trauma. More rarely, the victims didn't suffer the abuse that they claim. Most often, the predator is simply a very good con artist. There is no way for a youth organization to know which explanation is correct, and few of us are trained in conducting forensic interviews.  We have to report all disclosures and let trained investigators sort out all of the competing facts.

In this case, it appears that no one ever was charged with failure to report. However, the organization is facing serious damage to its reputation amid claims that it has covered up abuse. One way to avoid that impression is to report child abuse when a child discloses it, no matter how much trouble you have believing the victim.