New legislation introduced in the Louisiana Senate would legally require residents to report incidents involving sexual abuse of children.
The Senate unanimously supported Senate Bill 4, which imposes a sentence of up to five years in prison for witnesses who don’t report sexual abuse of a child, in a 36-0 vote on March 29.
Current Louisiana law states that a “mandatory reporter” who knowingly fails to report abuse, neglect or sexual abuse of a child is to be fined $500 or imprisoned for no more than six months.
The new bill defines a mandatory reporter as people like school bus drivers, coaches, college professors, teachers, teacher’s aides, counselors, technical and vocational school faculty, youth activity providers, staff members of colleges and vocational technical schools and administrators. If the abuse of a child results in bodily injury or death, a $3,000 fine and imprisonment for up to three years would be imposed on mandatory reporters who know about but fail to report the abuse.
The bill issues fines depending on the extent of a person’s knowledge of the abuse. It levies a harsher sentence on anyone older than 18 who witnesses abuse and fails to report it – a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison with the possibility of hard labor.
Senate Bill 4 also requires reporters to call the Department of Children and Family Services by a telephone hotline number in the event of child abuse.
The proposed legislation removes the provision that mandatory reporters listed are required to report incidents only when performing their occupational duties.
Furthermore, “teaching or childcare provider” is defined as anyone who assists in the supervision of children, whether voluntarily or occupationally.
Sen. Jean-Paul Morrell, D-New Orleans, drafted the bill as part of his commitment to promote criminal justice and to better public safety, he said in a news release. Morrell also drafted Senate Bill 158, which protects employees who report child abuse incidents.
“This is an extremely important bill for the safety of our children,” Morrell said in a news release. “The sexual assault of a child is the most heinous act an individual can commit. Equally heinous is when someone witnesses this crime and fails to report it to law enforcement.”
Senate Bill 4 was drafted in direct response to the controversy surrounding Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of molesting children for years. Allegedly, members of the Penn State faculty were aware of the incidents that happened but did not report them.
Morrell said the Penn State incident shows why the bill is important.
“This bill I present goes beyond the Sandusky incident,” Morrell said in the release. “In the state of Louisiana, I am proposing that we criminalize any failure to report a child sex crime regardless of the circumstances.”
LSU also responded in the wake of the Sandusky scandal, following Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive order in November to require University faculty to report incidents to local authorities within 24 hours.
Chancellor Michael Martin told The Daily Reveille in November that the University has always been prepared for such instances if they were to arise.
The University corresponds with the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore in regard to crime at the University. Martin also noted the LSU Police Department’s “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, which he said promotes crime reporting on campus.
“This is a movement sweeping across the country,” Martin said in November. “Everybody is responding in different ways.”
The Louisiana House of Representatives received the bill on Monday and it is currently pending approval.
 
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Contact Lauren Duhon at [email protected]