Kansas considers requiring church leaders to report suspected child abuse in most cases

He said the bill guarantees another avenue to get help escaping abuse, especially since some children, such as homeschooled children, may not have the same access to other kinds of mandatory reporters.

“It’s a matter of having people finally get justice,” he said. “To me, there’s nothing more sickening than having a figurehead in a house of worship – who as a child your parents teach you from day one to trust and confide in – take that information and twist it to their own benefit when they feel they need to.”

In the bill’s fiscal note, the Kansas Department for Children and Family Services estimated the measure would increase the amount of reports filed to the Kansas Protection Report Center, and the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration estimated cases filed for child abuse or neglect would increase in district courts.

Most lawmakers contend the legislation is a large step in the right direction to combat abuse in the church. But David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said much more needs to be done, such as a complete revision of the state’s statute of limitations.

He said priests and other church officials enjoy too much power under current law, despite ample evidence they often abuse their privileges.

“It’s excessive and unhealthy, dangerous deference,” he said. “Catholics, citizens, law enforcement and lawmakers all consistently give clergy the benefit of the doubt, over and over and over again in everyday interactions and in the law. When they get too much power, like other human beings, some will abuse that.”

Some progress has already been made, however. Last year, the progression of this bill was stalled to ensure the enactment of a bill that made radical changes to the statute of limitations, extending the time frame to file civil and criminal cases in child sex crimes.

Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, led the charge. She said requiring clergy to be mandated reporters is just another piece of the puzzle and a huge step to combating child sex abuse.

She said child predators often know churches are a place where there’s easy access to children.

“People who abuse children, particularly if it’s sexual abuse, we know generally they do not abuse just one child,” she said. “Typically they abuse several children. So this is important if there’s a case where a clergy needs to see something or hear something, that situation is recorded. We’re preventing additional abuse and additional victimization by closing this big gap.”

Holscher said the GOP flat tax bill, which failed, prevented her from doing further work revising the statute of limitations, but she plans to do more work next session.

Schlingensiepen acknowledged the bill may fail yet again to get through the Legislature, as it has for four years in a row. But he said that each year the bill is introduced, it gains positive exposure which he hopes will translate into support from Kansans.

He vowed to keep bringing the issue to the Legislature until it’s passed.

“If it fails this session, I’ll bring it back next session,” he said. “This isn’t going to go away.”

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