MoCo Senator Susan Lee Wants to Compromise on Student Safety. MCPS Administrators can Escape Criminal Penalty Even if They Suspect Sexual Abuse of MCPS Students Under Her Bill.

Montgomery County Senator Susan Lee wants the Maryland legislature to pass her bill, Senate Bill  568, that would provide for criminal penalties for administrators who fail to report sexual abuse of children only when they have ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE of the abuse.

Senator Lee says this bill is "not as broad" as she would have preferred but that the bill has been written this way because of "anticipated resistance."  [WHO IN MARYLAND IS RESISTANT TO PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL ABUSE?]

Senator Lee says this bill would encourage mandatory reporters to report for the "most obvious incidences" of sexual abuse.  [IF IT ISN'T OBVIOUS, THEY DO NOT HAVE TO REPORT?]

Senator Lee says her bill is a "compromise."  Senator Lee says she "brought the stakeholders together and this was sort of a compromise."  [Senator Lee did not bring the following stakeholders together:  Professor Lynn McLain, Ernest Crofoot, Theresa Lancaster, Jennifer Alvaro, or Ellen Mugmon. None of these stakeholders agree to Senator Lee's compromise.]

Nor did Senator Lee bring to the table any of the victims of sexual abuse in MCPS schools by MCPS teachers John Vigna, Lawrence Joynes or Jose Pineda.  In each of those MCPS cases multiple administrators knew about inappropriate behavior and suspected sexual abuse but did not report that information to the police.  In each of those cases the failure of the mandated reporters to call the police contributed to the victimization of addition children.  Which of those victims have agreed to Senator Lee's compromise?

Senator Lee's bill would do nothing to get MCPS administrators to report suspected sexual abuse of students.  MCPS would continue to be able to cover up these crimes under Senate Bill 568.  Why? Because Senator Susan Lee does not want to impose criminal penalties on administrators who fail to report the sexual abuse of students unless those administrators actually witness the sexual abuse with their own eyes and identify the act that they see as sexual abuse.  

Which of the Vigna, Joynes and Pineda victims who were victims of these sexual predators after those predators were already known to MCPS administrators (as evidenced by letters telling each predator to STOP TOUCHING STUDENTS) agreed to Senator Susan Lee's "compromise?" [NONE!]

The video below shows Senator Susan Lee presenting her Senate Bill 568 to the House Judiciary Committee on March 27, 2019.  After Senator Susan Lee speaks the Chair of the Committee, Luke Clippinger brought up Ellen Mugmon to speak in opposition to the bill.