June 2008 Issue

Protecting Our Children

When Child Abuse is Experienced, Suspected, or Discovered
by James P. Guenther

When child abuse (physical or sexual) is experienced, suspected, or discovered, the information needs to be shared with someone in a position to protect the child. This is a matter of biblical instruction and legal responsibility. Any suspected or known abuse needs to be reported immediately upon learning of the alleged incident(s).

Reporting to Public Authorities

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). DHHS is the primary child protection agency of the federal government. Its Information Gateway can be accessed at http://www.childwelfare.gov. This site provides information about who in your state is required by law to report, how to report, and to whom a report should be made. It also provides information about special rules related to ministerial confidentiality. It even gives a telephone number where one may call for advice on how to proceed.

Some persons must report. Every state has a statute which requires that reasonable suspicion or known instances of child abuse must be reported by certain persons to public authorities. Some states require that any person who reasonably suspects child abuse or has knowledge that a child has been abused is required to report it. For those persons who are required by law to report, their failure to report is a crime.

Anyone may report. In addition to those who must report child abuse, any person may report his suspicion or information to law enforcement authorities or state agencies which are charged with the duty to protect children.

Should ministers report? Should a minister of the Gospel report what he learns about child sex abuse, even if the information is confided in him? Under the state statute in some states, a minister may be legally compelled to report. If not legally compelled in the state where he serves, the minister may still conclude that he has a moral duty to report. Some statutes speak specifically to the duty of ministers to report. These reporting statutes may need to be understood in the light of other statutes which describe special rules about the testimony of a minister when it comes to the revelation of information he has gained in his ministerial capacity.

Should a minister feel conflicted about whether to report, due to concerns about the clergy-penitent relationship, several pertinent factors come into play.

• In some states, clergy-penitent privilege is a professional code of conduct rather than a legal right granted under the appropriate law codes.

• If the minister learns of any abuse from another source other than the perpetrator of the crime, it is not a confession and is not covered under the privilege.

• If the perpetrator has told anyone else other than the minister about the abuse, privilege has already been waived.

• If a minister has a moral objection to sharing information learned in a pastoral counseling session, that minister must weigh the legal and moral responsibility of protecting one of God's children over against the moral code of ethics of his position.

If one remains uncertain as to what to do, the best thing to do is to call an attorney in your church, town, or state for clarification.

Reporting to Church Authorities

If the abuse involves the church. If suspected or known child abuse involves the church in any way, it should also be reported to the proper church authorities. Victims and their families will need counseling, support, and other pastoral assistance. It involves the church if the abuse occurred:

• on church property or in connection with a church activity;

• by a church member or participant, whether serving as a volunteer or an employee of the church;

• toward a victim who is a church member or participant in church activities; or

• when knowledge of or information about the abuse came to a church member, volunteer, or employee as the result of his relationship to the church.

The "proper" church authorities to whom a report should be made might include the pastor, another member of the staff, or a church committee. If the suspected abuser is an employee, for example, it may be that the most appropriate person to report the matter to is the chairman of the personnel committee of the church. If the suspected abuser is a Sunday School teacher, or bus driver or some other volunteer or church member, the pastor may be the most appropriate person to whom to report.

If the abuse involves a minister of the church. If the suspected abuser is a member of the ministerial staff, the pastor must be told. If the suspected abuser is the pastor, the most appropriate church leader to whom a report should be made may be the chairman of the deacons and/or the chairman of the personnel committee.

While it is vitally important to the victim that reports be made, it is also important to the church and to its witness. Failure to report a crime ends up hurting all parties involved. Believers have a special responsibility to take the right road — the road of obedience both to biblical teaching and the law.

Making a report to a church leader by itself does not mitigate one's responsibility to report suspected or known child abuse to the appropriate legal authorities. Child abuse of any kind is not only sin; it is a crime.

Reporting to the Victim's Parents

It would normally be appropriate to report suspicions or information of abuse to the victim's parents, especially if the parents are members of the church or participants in the activities of the church. If the suspicion or information indicates the abuser may be a member of the family, reporting to the parents might not be the best thing to do. That's when you need to turn over what you know or suspect to public authorities and church authorities.

If, due to your position, the law requires you to report to public authorities, you are not excused from reporting through appropriate legal channels simply because you reported to someone else (for example, to the pastor, a church committee, or the victim's family). Even if you are not legally required to report to public authorities to meet your legal obligation, you must ask yourself if you have a personal moral duty to protect any child about whom you have personal knowledge or cause to suspect has been abused. If you answer affirmatively, then you have a moral responsibility to report what you have witnessed or have good reason to suspect. A child's physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing hangs in the balance.

James P. Guenther is a member of First Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and serves as General Counsel for the Southern Baptist Convention.

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