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	Reporting Child Abuse Is Required by Texas Law By Shirley Jinkins Fort Worth Star-Telegram November 13, 2011 http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/11/13/3523000/reporting-child-abuse-is-required.html The child sex abuse scandal at Penn State is bringing up some difficult questions about witnesses' responsibility to report abuse and organizational responses to such reports. What's enough reporting, and to whom? Julie Evans, associate director of the Alliance for Children, a Tarrant County organization, talked about child abuse and adults' legal responsibilities to report it in Texas. How common is child sexual abuse? Sadly, it's extremely common. One in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by the time they're 18. Over 90 percent are sexually abused by someone they know, and love and trust. Last year our centers served more than 2,500 children, and about 70 percent of our cases are sexual abuse. Are girls more likely to seek help? Last year, 914 of our cases were boys. We do see more girls in our center. That means that either girls are more likely to be victims, or girls are more likely to tell. What I do know is we often see boys who struggle with the barrier of coming forward because of their fears of what their friends, family, even their community will think. The abuser is often their same gender. It's a barrier to them asking for help. What are the legal obligations of reporting suspected abuse in Texas? We are a mandatory reporting state, and what that means is that our state mandates that anyone who suspects abuse must report it. That means report it to authorities, local law enforcement, not your boss. If they even suspect abuse they are required to report it, not just if it's an eyewitness account. It's a much lower burden of proof. They don't have to be 100 percent sure that it happened, if it's just suspected. Aren't people afraid of turning in their neighbors, their co-workers or their relatives? In Texas, the law protects the reporter. They do not need to be the judge and jury or do their own investigating. If they report in good faith, that's all they need to do. Texas does have a time frame; a professional reporter who suspects abuse must make the report within 48 hours. A professional reporter would be a pediatrician, a teacher, a soccer coach, a therapist. They are absolutely protected as long as they've done it in good faith. Not only are they protected in that capacity, but their identity is protected. Do people face any legal actions if they don't report a case of abuse? They do. Not reporting is a Class A misdemeanor. Failure to report is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. There are other circumstances with stronger punishment. An example might be if a mother knew that child sexual abuse was going on and did nothing. That carries much harsher punishment than a Class A misdemeanor. If someone sees abuse of a child actually occurring, what should they do -- try and stop it or call the authorities? Immediate reaction is necessary in any case where a child is being actively abused. That's to call 911. Putting yourself in danger is not necessarily going to lead to a child being out of danger. I would encourage anyone, if you report that you are seeing a child being abused, I guarantee you will receive an immediate response. If the law requires people to report child abuse, and they are legally protected if they do, why are people still so hesitant to report it? When you talk about child sexual abuse, it's hard communitywide to actually acknowledge that it exists. Because it so often occurs in a setting within a family, a church or a youth-serving organization, that adds an extra element in this that makes it harder to step out and make a report. Sexual predators are often in a position of authority; they are often gregarious and well-liked. People can't wrap their minds around it; they can't believe it's happening. People often don't believe it because it sounds so wrong. What do you think will be the lessons learned from the Penn State scandal? The thing that I am inspired to see in response to the Penn State story is that people are realizing that prevention is the key in these cases. They are looking at steps to educate, to define policies regarding child sex abuse in organizations. Penn State didn't occur here, but I think it has caused enough concern that agencies are realizing, 'Let's make sure it doesn't.' I think this is something we're going to be hearing about for a long time. The Alliance for Children and other organizations offer training for parents, organizational staff members and administrators in forming effective responses to incidents of child abuse. Contact: syjinkins@star-telegram.com
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