The focus of the media probe has been the conundrum of “who knew what and when”, which raised an onslaught of questions about what precise steps should be taken to report suspected child sex abuse; whether university officials complied with Pennsylvania’s reporting requirements, and whether the current law provides adequate protection for child victims of sex abuse or contains loopholes that harm the victims it was designed to protect.

In response to the call for tougher state child sex abuse laws, Assemblymen, George Tedisco (R-Schenectady-Saratoga) and George Amedore (R- Rotterdam), sponsored a bill that expands the list of mandatory child sex abuse reporters to now include college athletic staff and administrators.  The current law identifies, physicians, teachers, district attorneys, therapists, k-12 school officials, medical personnel, police officers, social services workers, and day camp officials, as among those who are considered mandatory reporters.  The substance of this  bill, mandates that these individuals report suspected abuse to law enforcement immediately, which is in contrast with the Pennsylvania law, which only requires that a report be made to a supervisor.  New York State Senate Republicans have sponsored a similar bill, and federal lawmakers also have chimed in, with Democrats Barbara Boxer and Bob Casey introducing bills to withhold state aid from states that do not enact fail-to-report-abuse laws.

The perception is that changes in legislation will exact the kind of justice missing from this situation-making collegiate athletic staff accountable to students in their care, who are entrusted to act in their best interest (with the operative word being “act”).  What we learn from Penn State should be obvious, but is a bit more nuanced;  As much as shielding children from abuse is a no-brainer, a proverbial wall of silence can easily counteract the “force field” that we rely on to protect children, and any child abuse law devoid of unequivocal duties to report abuse on all levels contribute to that vulnerability.

However, some light at the end of the tunnel may be near.  The Code of Compliance mandated in this bill and others is slated to be at the very least, the death knell of “that wall”, by triggering some consequences- albeit post-op for the victims- for the impulse to remain silent.