Mandated Reporters and Disclosures of Historic Abuse

A story from California illustrates a couple of important principles that youth organizations should follow when dealing with disclosures of long-ago abuse.  In this instance, an adult approached the owner of a gymnastics school and told him that one of the instructors, who was her cousin, had sexually abused her when she was a child.  She already had reported the incident to the police.  The gym owner told her that he didn't think the allegations were true, and he would wait for the results of the police investigation.  The victim of course then went to the media and a storm of controversy erupted.

The first principle is whether to report the disclosure under a state's mandated reporter law.  Some states, such as Georgia, are clear that an organization need not report a disclosure by a now-adult.  In other states, the law apparently is not clear.  An attorney that the reporter interviewed said that California law is not clear, but the gym owner still should have made a report to child protection authorities.  That recommendation does not make sense as a matter of policy, because when child protection authorities receive reports of abuse by someone who does not live with the victim, they generally refer it to law enforcement.  In this case, law enforcement was already investigating, so a report to child protection would have added a useless task to the caseworker's already full list.

However, as a matter of public relations, the gym owner probably now wishes he had reported the disclosure.  Explaining to parents and stakeholders why a report wasn't mandated is complicated, and generally complicated explanations don't play well over social media.  Even if you know that a report isn't going to change anything, you may need to report just to keep your record clear. 

A second question is whether to allow the staff member to keep working.  We always recommend isolating the accused from access to minors in your care until the investigation is concluded.  That action is not always fair, because it sometimes punishes innocent people.  Unfortunately, you can't worry about fairness when the safety of children is at stake.  You need to be able to tell parents that you are erring on the side of protection.  Even if you don't believe the charges, you have to take all the precautions you would take if you did believe them.

Knowing what to do after receiving a disclosure of long-ago, historic abuse is difficult.  Prepare ahead of time by knowing your state's mandated reporter rules, and developing a protocol so that you will know what steps to take if disaster strikes.  Our team at Taylor English can help you develop those policies and advise you on laws in many states.