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If a college football coach suspected a child was sexually abused in Maryland or Washington he would be required by law to tell authorities — but not if he worked in Virginia.
In light of the recent allegations of child sexual assault involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, state mandatory reporting laws have attracted scrutiny from advocacy groups and concerned citizens. Legendary Penn State head coach Joe Paterno was recently fired for not going far enough beyond the small circle of university employees in reporting a credible tip that Sandusky raped a child in athletic department showers.
Maryland has some of the country’s most stringent laws when it comes to reporting child abuse, putting the onus on any individual that has reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse to report it to local law enforcement. The law specifies that health practitioners, educators, human services workers and police officers are required to report abuse at the risk of losing their jobs.
“Child abuse, neglect and particularly sexual abuse are really a tragedy. The biggest tragedy is they so often go unreported,” said Ian Patrick Hines, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources. “When people see things and have reason to believe it’s going on and don’t say something, you need to say something.”
Most other states, including Virginia and D.C., specify professionals that are required to report suspected abuse. In the District, that includes “school officials, teachers or athletic coaches,” which they interpret to include college football coaches, said Mindy Good, spokeswoman for the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency.
But in Virginia, the list of professionals required by law to report suspected abuse does not include university employees. The Virginia State Crime Commission met Wednesday and discussed options for adding that group and it’s likely to get further review.
Both Maryland and Virginia make exceptions for religious leaders, and Maryland and D.C. also have a similar exception for attorney-client privilege.
Individuals that fail to report face fines in D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
Phone numbers for reporting child abuse
District of Columbia 202-671-SAFE
Maryland 800-332-6347
Virginia 800-552-7096
