Should teachers [Administrators], doctors and social workers face jail time for failing to report child abuse?

A judge last year sentenced Deonte Carraway, an aide who molested more than 20 students at a Maryland elementary school, to 100 years in prison on 23 counts of child sex abuse and pornography.
But prosecutors did not have the option to seek charges against anyone who they felt should have reported the abuse but failed to do so, because Maryland is one of only two states that does not allow criminal penalties for that type of violation.

“We were able to hold Mr. Carraway accountable for his actions . . . but what we have not done is further close the loophole that would make us able to say to parents that we can assure to them that this will never happen again,” Prince George’s State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks recently told a panel of state lawmakers.

The General Assembly is now considering whether mandatory reporters — health practitioners, police officers, educators and human service workers — should face a misdemeanor charge and up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine for failing to report child abuse if they have “actual knowledge” that it has occurred.

Maryland and Wyoming are the only states that do not impose criminal penalties for failure to report, which can lead to felony charges in several states, including Arizona, Minnesota and Connecticut...

...Jennifer Alvaro, a longtime clinician in the field of child sexual abuse, said she supports criminal penalties but doesn’t support the bill because “actual knowledge” is “an impossibly high standard.”..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/should-teachers-doctors-and-social-workers-face-jail-for-failing-to-report-child-abuse/2018/02/15/1d3281c2-119e-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html?utm_term=.38c048dfd9d5