(The Center Square) – Gaining momentum after years of failed attempts, House Democrats in the Washington State Legislature advanced a bill Wednesday that would make clergy members mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.
The majority party passed Senate Bill 5375 out of the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee on Wednesday. Last month, Senate Democrats passed the proposal out of the house of origin with a party-line vote, rejecting several Republican amendments.
Many states require religious leaders to report incidents of child abuse and neglect. Previous versions of the bill would’ve exempted clergy from reporting abuse or neglect learned during confession.
Republicans attempted to shift language to preserve the sanctity of confession and require a log of allegations, investigations and resulting disciplinary action. All but one failed in the Senate, allowing disclosure upon “imminent risk of physical injury” instead of “serious physical injury.”
“Mandatory reporting is okay, but taking the clergy out of the confidentiality thing was not,” Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said during Wednesday’s executive session.
State law currently includes 23 classes of mandatory reporters, but SB 5375 only requires clergy members to report information disclosed under privileged communication like confessions.
“Except for members of the clergy, no one shall be required to report under this section when he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged communication,” according to the proposal.
Dent attempted to remove that provision again on Wednesday to no avail. His amendment would have also required the clergy to report incidents they see necessary. Democrats argued that would undermine the bill altogether, making reporting discretionary rather than mandatory.
Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, proposed another failed amendment along the same idea.
Her proposal differed in that it would’ve allowed the clergy to report information learned under confession if failure to disclose would result in “clear, imminent risk of serious” injury or death.
“At four years old, I was one of the statistics,” Eslick told her peers.
Her abuser, a Catholic, “didn’t try to ask for forgiveness” until Eslick was about 40 years old. She said it was “part of his punishment” after he was “finally caught with a neighbor,” but Eslick “couldn’t speak to the man.” She felt like her abuser would’ve never gone to confession.
Rep. Natasha Hill, D-Spokane, said SB 5375 won’t have the intended impact if people don’t go to the clergy to “confess these sins in hopes of forgiveness.” Still, citing public testimony, she called it an opportunity for church and state to work together to support interventions.
“There’s no curtain to hide behind when it comes to child abuse and especially sexual abuse,” Hill said. “We have an opportunity here to make sure we’re just setting the law straight.”
The proposal now heads to the Rules Committee, which will determine if and when it’ll reach the floor for a vote. If passed by the House, SB 5375 would take effect 90 days after the session, with any mandatory reporter who knowingly fails to disclose an incident guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
