The Dailypress:
In the wake of the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State the cost legendary football coachJoe Paterno his job, a Virginia legislator has filed two bills that add to the list of mandated reporters in the case of child abuse or neglect.
In HB3 and HB4 Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, proposes adding coaches and athletic directors working at colleges or universities or for private sports organizations to be required to report any suspected abuse or neglect to their local Department of Social Services.
If passed these coaches and athletic directors would be added to a long list of professionals who are considered mandated reporters by the state, including doctors, nurses, K-12 teachers and coaches, probation officers and day care workers.
The emphasis here is on college and university level coaches and athletic directors because these individuals generally don’t deal with minors in their day to day work. Adding these positions to the long list of mandated reporters would remove the guess work out of who is and is not responsible for reporting suspected child sex abuse.
Perhaps it seems like over-kill but it is better to be safe than sorry. In many ways its seems that those at Penn State were ill prepared to deal with child sex abuse. If this bill passes into law, there will simply be no question as to the right and legal behavior required. For once, we give Del. Marshall a rare thumbs up.
