Legislature Proposes Bill that would be "Nearly Impossible" to Use

 Children will Continue to be Victimized by Known Sexual Predators in our Schools when Administrators Fail to Report without Consequences.

A Washington Post article today  discusses legislation that has been proposed by the Maryland General Assembly to add a criminal penalty for professionals, including public school administrators, who fail to report suspected child abuse of children.  (Click here to read about MCPS administrators, including the superintendent, who failed to report MCPS teacher John Vigna to the police or Child Protective Services when they were informed he was lap sitting with his female students.)

As reported by ABC7, only Maryland and Wyoming do not have penalties for failure to report child abuse.  The legislation proposed in this session of the General Assembly would supposedly change that for Maryland, except that if the bill is useless what will actually change?  

Below is the Statement of Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby on Senate Bill 132 - Child Abuse and Neglect - Failure to Report. Her statement below explains why Senate Bill 132/House Bill 500 as written will not be useful to prosecutors if passed. 

"...I suggest amending the "actual knowledge" standard to "knowledge." To prove a crime occurred under the current language, the listed professionals must have "actual knowledge" of the abuse or neglect. It is nearly impossible from a legal perspective to prove that an individual had "actual knowledge" of abuse, especially if the mandatory reporter contends that they did not see the abuse occur and did not believe the child's disclosure."

   Jan. 23, 2018:  Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby Letter on Senate Bill  132 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd