Bill forcing clergy members to report child abuse passes WA House

Emotions ran high as state lawmakers debated mandatory reporting of child abuse by members of the clergy with most of the debate centered around confession — the voluntary self-accusation of one’s sins to a qualified priest.

In a deeply divided vote, the House included confessions and now the Senate must agree with the addition of a confession before it goes to the governor for approval.

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“Every Catholic talks about why its so important to go to confession — it saves our soul,” Rep. Alex Ybarra (District 13) said on the House floor. “What this bill does is attack Catholics. Right now, you guys are attacking Catholics.”

“The clergy has to report abuse, otherwise we are failing our children,” Rep. Stephanie Barnard (District 8) said in defense of the altered legislation.

“I can’t be a yes when it destroys my family’s religion,” countered Rep. Carolyn Eslick (District 39).

The bill, SB 5280 sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame (D-Seattle), originally passed in the Senate on a unanimous vote before the amendments were added in the House. As the bill continues to move through the legislative process, legislators will argue whether to continue that exemption or amend the bill to close it.

“We’re going to have some tough conversations about the issue of clergy-penitent privilege here in the Legislature and find what’s possible for us to pass,” said Frame in a prepared statement. “This bill is already a major step forward for protecting children, and my priority is to pass it into law this year in the strongest form we can.”

Washington is one of just seven states that do not list clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect. Alaska, in addition to Washington, are the only two states that currently protect clergy-penitent privilege, meaning clergy within the state are exempt from being examined in court for any confession made in confidence.

The Washington State Catholic Conference is urging the Legislature to keep the clergy-penitent privilege clause in the bill, claiming it would be a violation of the First Amendment otherwise.

Currently, in the state, Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) employees, law enforcement, social workers, professional school personnel, county coroners, and health care providers alongside employees of social service, welfare, mental health, home care, and home health agencies are required to be mandatory reporters, according to the DHSH.

Frame is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and the abuse ended only after she told a teacher who was a mandatory reporter.

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“This subject is personally very important for me,” said Frame. “I was abused from the ages of 5 to 10 by a member of my own family, a teenage cousin. It stopped when I told a teacher, who then reported it to the authorities, and ultimately to my parents.

“Mandatory reporters play an important role in protecting children, which is why teachers and others who have close relationships with children have to take on that reporting responsibility,” said Frame. “Faith leaders have similarly trusted relationships with children in their communities and should share the same responsibility.”

The bill now goes to the House for consideration, the reverse of a similar bill’s fate from 2005. Eighteen years ago, a bill that would have compelled clergy to report sexual abuse passed in the House unanimously, but couldn’t make it out of the state Senate.