Protecting Children JANUARY 2004
Report on bill that passed the House but got stuck in the senate
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HB 92 HELPS POTECT CHILDREN
AND THE FAITH COMMUNITY
By
BOB LYNN
Representative District 31
The Alaska House acted prudently last session to help protect children
from sexual abuse by mandating clergy to report abuse by other clergy
or other persons, with the passage of my House Bill 92. The bill now
awaits action in the State Senate. Your help is requested.
HB92 is a good bill, but not a perfect solution to the problem it
addresses. No bill is a perfect bill because legislators who draft,
amend, and pass bills aren't perfect. But if we wait for perfect bills
nothing would ever pass the legislature, and my bill is no exception.
The time has arrived for the legislators to act, and to leave
perfection to God.
Some good people have expressed concern about potential "unintended
consequences" if HB 92 becomes law. Concerns involve issues of
church-state separation, this time from the clergy rather than the
government. Some legislators have expressed concern my bill could make
clergy a "branch of the DFYS." Granted, the DFYS has less than a
sterling historical record on appropriate and timely responses to
child abuse issues. However teachers, doctors, nurses, and other
professionals, already are mandated reporters child abuse - and clergy
should be no exception. The question isn't a matter of church-state
separation; it's a matter of separation of children from the very
small number of sexual predators within the clergy and within
congregations. The "unintended consequences" we need most to fear is a
continuing free pass for clergy not to report crimes against children.
Spiritual counseling is an integral part of the clergy's job
description. Prayer and counseling is viewed by many clergy to be the
first response (and among the more na�ve perhaps the only response) to
incidents of known or suspected sexual child abuse. I too believe in
the power of prayer - I just believe the many benefits of prayer can
be as well attained when the sinner is behind bars, and no longer a
danger to children.
Some clergy worry some of the perverts in their congregation - or
within their own ranks - would be reluctant to seek counseling if they
knew their pastor was required to notify the police. That's a valid
concern, but begs the question. The issue isn't who gets counseling,
it's who helps protect children.
Most churches in the Protestant community tend to be independent of
each other. Most often clergy are selected by the membership, and
receive secular marching orders from their congregation. In these
situations, HB92 could require clergy to report their own misbehaviors
and perversions (not likely). But my bill would help give pastors the
legal backbone needed to report actual or suspected abuse within their
congregation with less fear of reprisal from the church board that
hires them - because they did what the law requires.
So far there's been little opposition of HB92 from churches organized
in a hierarchy, meaning a clear "chain of command." In other words,
churches in which clergy reports to supervisory clergy. This would
include the Orthodox, and Episcopal churches, and my own Catholic
Church. In fact, Alaska Catholic Church leadership, which has suffered
most of the horrific headlines on this subject, has been very helpful
in the drafting and support of my bill. Likewise, my HB92 has
benefited from considerable support from my Democrat colleagues,
because nothing unites good people of all political persuasions more
than protecting children.
If we wait for a perfect bill to protect children from child abuse,
many many children will continue to be abused without legal
consequence, when it could have been prevented. If that were to
happen, shame on any of us who demonstrated more caution than faith
Something precious is lost if parents become reluctant to send their
children to church for fear of sexual abuse by clergy or someone in
the congregation. In addition to helping safeguard children, HB92 will
help protect the reputation of our churches as trustworthy
institutions. Of all the issues facing Alaska, nothing is more
critical than helping to protect children and the good name of our
faith community. Please contact your senators and urge that HB92 go
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