No More Code of Silence in Fl Child Sex Abuse

July 13, 2012

No More Code of Silence in Fl Child Sex Abuse

Florida soon should be the safest state in the nation for children following passage of the toughest child abuse law in the country.

The state's legislators reacted to the national outrage created by the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State University by beefing up required reporting of child sex abuse in several significant ways.

Florida colleges that fail to report certain child abuse taking place on campus will pay a steep price: Fines of up to $1 million and potential criminal charges.

Apart from the college aspect, everyone is required to report child abuse. The penalties for failing to do so were raised from a misdemeanor to a felony, and the fines were increased from a maximum of $1,000 to $5,000.

The legislators also responsibly beefed up the state's ability to deal with an expected increase in calls to the child abuse hotline. Based on a predicted increase of 10 percent, the Legislature added 47 positions and more than $2 million in funding.

The bill, which takes effect on Oct. 1, continues a modern trend to provide more attention to the problem of child abuse, defined as sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or neglect.

For too long, silence was the norm when it came to child abuse.

One of the earliest breaks in the code of silence came in the 1870s when a missionary reported child abuse to authorities in New York City. The mother of the child was placed in prison for a year, and the child was removed from the home.

Still, the concern for child welfare grew slowly. In 1962, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article on battered child syndrome, which helped physicians identify child abuse.

Laws in the meantime tended to focus reporting requirements on physicians, teachers and others who deal directly with children. In 1974, Congress passed a law that provided federal funding for states that pass mandatory reporting laws.

In 1990, child abuse was declared a national emergency by the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, reported an article in Washington Lawyer, a D.C. Bar publication.

Actually, the attention seems to have worked. Rates of reported child abuse have declined in the last two decades. Cases of child sexual abuse declined by more than 60 percent from 1990 to 2010, reported The New York Times.

Forty-eight states require at least some professionals to immediately report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse, reports the national Conference of State Legislatures.

And 18 states require mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse by all adults, the Associated Press reports.

At the same time, the rates of child abuse reported by children themselves have doubled.

Still, it became apparent that states had inadequate reporting laws. Attention focused by the Sandusky case led to a serious examination, resulting in expanding the requirement to report to everyone and toughening the penalties for failing to do so.

More than 100 bills have been filed on reporting child abuse in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Laws have been enacted in 10 states.

But Florida has taken the lead.

For those unsure about the various aspects of reporting child abuse, there is an excellent website from the Florida Department of Children and Families (see adjacent box).

Society has a duty to protect its children. The evidence is clear that progress is being made.

That Florida now has the toughest reporting requirements in the nation is a badge of honor.