A teacher observes students playing on a school playground in Chicago. Many states are grappling with the issue of who should be required to report cases of child neglect and abuse. (Photo: Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
Conversations with sexual abuse survivors made Missouri Sen. Tracy McCreery wonder what could have prevented the harm, leading her to propose legislation that would require clergy and religious workers to report suspected child abuse or neglect.
Her Bill would force clergy to file a report even if they learned about abuse during confession or another religious rite. He urges people to look at the issue through the lens of child safety and not against religion.
“Children are just very vulnerable and it’s up to us as adults to not let them get hurt,” the Democrat told Stateline. “There should be no exception for adults who know something and simply don’t report it.”
Her bill failed to pass as Missouri’s legislative session was winding down. Other state lawmakers across the country are also grappling with the issue of who should be required to report suspected child abuse or neglect, so-called “persons authorized to report”.
Some lawmakers are wondering whether clergy should be included and whether they should be forced to disclose confession information. Other lawmakers are questioning whether sports coaches, talent agents, camp leaders and other professions that come into contact with children should be mandated reporters.
The issue of religious freedom played out recently in Washington state. AND Washington bill passed last year requires clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect, even if they received the information through confidential communications during a religious rite such as confession. Catholic bishops and then the Orthodox churches sued, claiming it violated their First Amendment right to religious freedom. US Department of Justice joined the lawsuit on the side of the bishops.
In the Catholic faith, confession is considered a sacred rite. Penitents confess their sins to a priest who is prohibited by church law from revealing anything. The Washington law “presents Roman Catholic priests with an impossible choice: violate 2,000 years of Church teaching and suffer automatic excommunication, or refuse to comply with Washington law and be subject to imprisonment, fines and civil liability,” the bishops say. said the suit.
A federal judge blocked enforcement of that part of the law and ultimately blocked the state from doing so he agreed to quit duty. Clergy remain mandated reporters, but prosecutors do not enforce confession reporting requirements.
The case is ongoing in New York the bill would add something “member of the clergy or other clergy of any religion” to the list of required reporters, similar to a Kansas a bill that passed the state House but failed in the Senate this session. Both bills would exempt information received through testimony.
South Dakota legislators also considered adding clergy this year to the state’s list of authorized reporters, excluding confession requirements, although that proposal did not pass in committee. Church opponents say requiring religious leaders to make “subjective” calls on whether hardship or poverty constitutes reportable abuse or neglect would disrupt clergy-parishion relationships and run afoul of First Amendment protections, South Dakota Searchlight rexported.
However, a pending bill from Vermont seeks to eliminate the exception for mandatory reporting of confessions.
McCreery rejects the idea that an adult should be able to admit to religious abuse without having to report it, and believes there are loopholes in reporting laws that threaten the safety of children.
“It really turns me off,” she said. “Why don’t we think about our child protection responsibilities?”
But Chris Motz, a senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute who works on religious liberty issues, said the dispute in Washington should serve as a lesson to other states considering similar laws.
“The lesson for state legislators will be that they must respect long-standing religious rights while balancing important child protection interests,” he said. “We don’t always have to look at everything in winner-takes-all terms, this or that. We can do a little with both hands.”
Bearing the legal burden
The bills sometimes define “clergy” broadly, including not only ordained leaders such as priests and rabbis, but also those who serve as the spiritual leaders of any religious community, church or sect.
Michael W. Halcomb, an ordained minister and adjunct professor at Montreat College in North Carolina, told Stateline that if abusers know that clergy must report everything that is revealed during counseling or confession, they may not seek support at all.
“If reporting is mandatory, perpetrators will likely never seek help or advice,” Halcomb said. “This means that harassment remains completely hidden no matter what happens.”
Halcomb said many pastors are unable to determine where “spiritual leadership ends and formal admissions of guilt begin,” which can complicate broad reporting obligations.
“In other words, anyone who has the ability to isolate a child should bear the legal burden of reporting.”
But it was introduced by Vermont Democratic Representative Esme Cole Bill seeking to repeal the state’s clergy confidentiality exception. Cole said the bill does not target any one denomination or just what is said during confession. She said it’s also about abuse that church leaders know about but are never reported; wants such leaders to also be required to report.
The matter is personal, Cole told Stateline. She said her close friend is an adult survivor of physical and emotional abuse that occurred at church when he was about 10 years venerable. A priest accused of molestation, in her opinion, was never punished and was instead transferred elsewhere.
Cole calls this the “pass the trash” loophole.
“When there is bad behavior, and by bad behavior I mean actual abuse committed by a member of the diocese, they move him to the next church or two churches over,” Cole said. “If we want to put an end to this type of movement, it needs to be reported.”
Cole’s proposal comes amid a long history of clergy abuse allegations in Vermont’s only Catholic diocese. After the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2024, another 118 people filed confidential claims after previously settling 67 lawsuits for approximately $34.5 million. Reported by VTDigger.
Who else should report?
Other states are debating whether to add coaches and other professionals who interact with children to their mandatory reporter lists.
Halcomb said that if the goal is to protect children, states should go beyond churches and impose reporting obligations on “any person with unsupervised authority over minors,” including sports coaches at clubs, private teachers and camp volunteers.
Connecticut passed this month legislation requiring paid city youth camp directors, assistant directors and employees aged 21 or older to serve as mandated reporters.
Although the South Dakota clergy bill failed, the Legislature approved it separate measure requiring each “school activity coach” to be a mandated reporter. Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed it into law in March.
California expanded its definition of mandated reporters specifically includes certain school volunteers, governing board members and private school employees as of July 1, 2026, and requires annual mandated reporter training. It was also adopted by the state law last year added talent agents, talent managers and talent coaches working with minors.
Beth Sanborn, a retired Pennsylvania police officer, now leads other school resource officers in mandated reporter training sessions as the school safety coordinator for Montgomery County. It asks them to imagine that they are being forced to describe their last sexual encounter to a stranger.
She said the question elicits nervous chuckles from nervous adult officers. She then asks them to think about a newborn child who was sexually abused by a relative and how the fear and shame can be so overwhelming that they do not seek support.
“What if you were 11 years old and what if it happened without your consent? What if it was your uncle?” Sanborn said. “Do you really want to share this with a stranger? This has become our collective responsibility, trained to recognize these signs.”
Sanborn said she saw a complete shift in mandatory reporting in Pennsylvania after 2012, when the state passed a law that requires it school employees and contractors who have direct contact with children receive training in recognizing and reporting violence against children. The laws came into force after Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State.
Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing newborn boys. The scandal led to the firing of Joe Paterno, a respected, longtime Penn State football coach who was criticized for not doing enough when he learned of the Sandusky allegations in 1998.
Sanborn believes some school officials, from teachers to officers, are hesitant to report because of the common misconception that they have to prove harassment occurred. In her opinion, the purpose of mandatory reporting is for adults to convey legitimate concerns before a child is harmed.
“A school employee sees one aspect of a child’s behavior. A coach sees another. A guidance counselor sees another. A favorite teacher sees another.”
Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at: sequenceira@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by state linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
