In Wake of Sandusky Scandal, Panel Recommends Wholesale Rewrite of Pennsylvania Child Protection Law
By John L. Micek
A special task force charged with reviewing and recommending changes to Pennsylvania's child protection law called Tuesday for expanding the definition of child abuse and the list of those required to report it. The 11-member Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection voted unanimously to adopt a catalog of recommended reforms as a starting point for a continuing conversation on efforts to protect children. "This needs to be an ongoing dialogue," said the panel's chairman, Bucks County District Attorney David W. Heckler. "This isn't something that's going to be accomplished in six months." The panel's report calls for a complete rewrite of Pennsylvania's child protection law. It also recommends creating new offenses and boosting the penalties for existing crimes, such as possession of child pornography. The panel was formed by the Legislature last year after the arrest of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. It has held 11 public hearings, taking testimony from 60 people with direct experience in child protection issues. Heckler said the panel's work was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Sandusky case or the child-abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Rather, it was an "optimistic but realistic response" to a complex and painful issue. "We have tried to do the best we could to improve a system that was woefully failing in a number of ways," he said. In a written statement, Gov. Tom Corbett thanked the panel for its work and said his administration would "work with the Legislature, law enforcement agencies and advocates to review each recommendation … to create a culture that promotes greater awareness, more accountability and better coordination. "If we want to continue to protect Pennsylvania's children from abuse and neglect," Corbett said, "we must close the gaps that exist between state and local government, law enforcement, and health and child welfare agencies." Legislative leaders in the state House and Senate appeared generally receptive to the panel's report. But it was not clear how soon they plan to act on its recommendations. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said in a written statement that the majority GOP chamber hoped to start sending bills to Corbett by early 2013. "The report includes many recommendations, which will make our state a better place for children," Pileggi said. "It is now incumbent on the General Assembly to act on those recommendations." Senate Republicans "[understand] that these changes cannot be made overnight, but we are fully prepared to commit the time and effort necessary to make our state safer for children," Pileggi said. House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin said GOP lawmakers who control the 203-member chamber will review the task force's recommendations. But he could not offer a timeline for the introduction of enabling legislation or votes. Task force member Rachel Berger, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said the state needs to "create a culture" in which everyone feels obligated to report suspected cases of abuse. The report met with a mixed response on its release. In a written statement, Barbara Dorris, the outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the proposed reforms "nibble at the edges of child sex crimes and cover-ups. Statute of limitations reform is much more effective and immediate." Cathleen Palm of the Protect Our Children Committee said her group sent the task force "our bucket list" of recommended reforms and credited it for its work. But the bucket is "still really full and there's a lot of work to do." Contact: john.micek@mcall.com 717-783-7305 RECOMMENDATIONS •Renew every 24 months child abuse clearances for people who work with children, and expand the grounds for denying employment in child care settings. •Expand the list of mandatory reporters to college administrators and employees, coaches, attorneys, librarians, commercial film processors (if warranted), computer service technicians and volunteers who share responsibility for children. •Increase the penalties for willfully failing to report child abuse. •Redefine child abuse to eliminate the requirement of severe pain, and lower the threshold from severe bodily injury to injury. Broaden the definition of sexual abuse to include engaging in sexually explicit conversations with a child. •Switch the state's ChildLine Hotline from 1-800-932-0313 to a 3-digit number. Source: Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection
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