Is Penn State's Scandal Likely in California?

The questionable judgment of Penn State University's administrators and football coaches in the school's recent child molestation scandal has prompted two lawmakers to undertake strengthening California's child abuse reporting requirements.

Assemblyman Ricardo Lara's (D-Bell Gardens) legislation, which will be introduced this month, would strip nonprofit institutions of their tax-exempt status if they do not report the sexual molestation of a child. Senator Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) meanwhile, is proposing to require athletic coaches at institutions of higher education to report child abuse; mandated reporters who willfully fail to report abuse or prevent another person from doing so could face felony charges.

But Robert Fellmeth, founder of the Children's Advocacy Institute and a public interest law professor at the University of San Diego, says more campus personnel should be mandated "to prevent Penn State situations from happening here." He notes that California's list of mandated reporters does not clearly specify higher education employees. "Perhaps the assumption is [that] they don't deal with minors," Fellmeth observes. "Many colleges have child care services, and minors are always visiting university campuses."

Looking beyond the circumstances of the Penn State scandal, Donald J. Beck, of counsel at Estey Bomberger in San Diego, which represents victims of child abuse, says elementary and secondary school volunteers must also be required to report abuse. "School districts use a lot of volunteers as a result of budget cuts."

Regardless of where the alleged abuse occurs, the investigation should be restricted by statute to law enforcers and their professional personnel, warns Stephen Estey, the firm's cofounder: "People who conduct investigation of abuse on their own before reporting it often botch it up, with horrendous damage to the kids and the case."

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