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22 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 235 (2012-2013)
Reforming Mandated Reporting Laws after Sandusky

handle is hein.journals/kjpp22 and id is 251 raw text is: REFORMING MANDATED REPORTING LAWS AFTER SANDUSKY Starla J. Williams* INTRODUCTION The child sexual abuse case at Penn State University (University or Penn State) exposes numerous gaps in mandated reporting requirements of suspected child abuse.' Details of the allegations underlying the conviction of former Penn State football coach Gerald (Jerry) Sandusky are undeniably shocking;2 however, the public is most outraged by charges that former high ranking University administrators failed to report accusations against Sandusky to child protection authorities.3 Unfortunately, laws that require prompt disclosure of * Assistant Professor of Legal Methods, Widener University School of Law, J.D. Duquesne University, LL.M. Georgetown University Law Center. The author thanks Katie Adam and James Freeman for their research assistance. The author appreciates Lolita Buckner Innis and David J. Herring for their helpful comments on drafts of this article and acknowledges the advocacy of Ron and Julia L. Tilley, founders of Justice4victim2, a community-based coalition of activists devoted to reforming mandated reporting laws. 1. Child abuse is defined in section 6303 of the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law (CPSL): (i) Any recent act or failure to act by a perpetrator which causes nonaccidental serious physical injury to a child under 18 years of age. (ii) An act or failure to act by a perpetrator which causes nonaccidental serious mental injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child under 18 years of age. (iii) Any recent act, failure to act or series of such acts or failures to act by a perpetrator which creates an imminent risk of serious physical injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child under 18 years of age. (iv) Serious physical neglect by a perpetrator constituting prolonged or repeated lack of supervision or the failure to provide essentials of life, including adequate medical care, which endangers a child's life or development or impairs the child's functioning. 23 PA. CONS. STAT. § 6303(b). 2. On June 22, 2012, a jury convicted Sandusky on forty-five counts of child sexual abuse involving ten boys over a period of fifteen years. Kevin Johnson, Sandusky Faces Life in Prison After Conviction on 45 Charges, USA TODAY, June 22, 2012, available at http://www.usatoday. com/news/nation/story/2012-06-22/sandusky-verdict/55768640/1. 3. On November 7, 2011, Pennsylvania arraigned two former Penn State officials in Harrisburg on charges of perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse. Police express shock at Penn State child abuse cover up, REUTERS, Nov. 7, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article /2011/1l/08/us-crime-coach-pennsylvania-idUSTRE7A42EX20111108. University officials' roles in failing to disclose child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky are set forth in the Freeh Report. LOUIS J. FREEH, REPORT OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE COUNSEL 235

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