OPINION: Lawmakers should pass bill to make clergy report abuse

This editorial was published in The Seattle Times.

It’s a debate that’s lingered among state lawmakers for about 20 years. In the last two legislative sessions, two bills that would have made clergy members mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect have failed.

Now, Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, who sponsored the previous bills, is trying again with Senate Bill 5375. The bill would add Washington to the list of 45 other states, including less progressive states such as Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, that give clergy the same legal responsibility that teachers, therapists and medical professionals have to report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse. Basically, if you hear something, say something.

Frame’s previous bills had bipartisan support from lawmakers and The Times editorial board. This year’s bill deserves the same.

Frame proposed a bill in 2023 that would have required clergy to report any knowledge or suspicion of child abuse and neglect. That bill failed. She came back in 2024 with a compromise bill that included an exemption for knowledge of abuse obtained during confession, a major tenet in the Catholic faith. However, the bill carved out an exception to that exemption. Clergy would “have a duty to warn” law enforcement or social services if there is reasonable belief that a child is in imminent danger of abuse or neglect, even if that belief is informed by information gained “in part as a result of a penitential communication” — but corroborated with information obtained outside of confession.

Now Frame, a child sexual abuse survivor herself, is trying to protect children from the ordeal she experienced decades ago with a bill that offers no clergy-penitent privilege.

“I have tried really hard over the last couple of years to find a balance and just strike a careful compromise ... for those who I tried to work with, I’m really sorry that I don’t feel like I can make a compromise for you anymore, and I stand by the bill with no exemption,” Frame told the Senate Human Services Committee recently.

In many instances, religious leaders develop personal relationships with their flock. Some offer counseling or hear confessions that could reveal criminal violations that involve children. A man may confess to sexually abusing his niece. A child suffering years of abuse at home may turn to the most trusted person they know for help — the person they deem closest to God.

Washington voters have put their trust in lawmakers to protect children as well. This year’s session presents the third chance for them to protect those who can’t protect themselves. They should not let this moment pass without making what is morally right, legally right.

TNS