Task Force Recommends Sweeping Changes to the State's Laws Protecting Children

By Jan Murphy
The Patriot-News
November 27, 2012

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/laws_protecting_children.html#incart_river_default

The 11-member Task Force on Child Protection on Tuesday recommended the Legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett make some sweeping changes to the state’s laws protecting children. Among its suggestions in the full report are: ?

• Lower the threshold for what constitutes child abuse to eliminate the requirement that a child experience severe pain and include such reckless and intentional acts as allowing a child to be in a car driven by an intoxicated person. ?

• Expand the definition of child sexual abuse to include engaging in sexually explicit conversations and looking at breasts and/or genitalia of or with a child for another person’s sexual gratification. ?

• Replace ChildLine’s 1-800-932-0313 with a three-digit number such as 611 for reporting child abuse statewide. ?

• Expand the list of mandated reporters who are required to report suspected child abuse to include college administrators and employees, coaches, attorneys, computer service repairman, commercial film processors, librarians, and anyone who works or volunteers with a program where they accept responsibility for children. ?

• Increase the penalty for mandated reporters who fail to report suspected child abuse to a second-degree misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. ?

• Allow for more information-sharing among professionals involved in child protection that is now statutorily barred. ?

• Require school teachers who suspect child abuse to report it directly to ChildLine, the state’s child abuse hotline, rather than or in addition to a school administrator. ?

• Maintain all reports of suspected child abuse and protective services in a database indefinitely so county agencies and law enforcement can access it for safety and risk assessment as well as in the investigation of certain crimes. ?

• Require mandated reporters to sign an oath at the conclusion of their training, stating their understanding of the responsibility the role carries. ?

• Establish more children’s advocacy centers around the state that provides a myriad of services to assist child abuse victims ranging from prosecution to counseling. ?

• Strengthen the sentencing guidelines for possession of child pornography. ?