State lawmakers are considering separate bills that would end the statutory limit on reporting sexual abuse and require clergy to report sex abuse.
State law has a three-year limit on reporting, either after sex abuse victims turn 18 or if they notice an injury or illness caused by the abuse. Senate Bill 95 would eliminate the three-year limit. It would also let cases happening on or after July 1, 1984, to be revived for potential prosecution — and it would all let crimes of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, murder, terrorism and illegal use of weapons of mass destruction to be tried at any time.
Senate Bill 87, meanwhile, addresses the issue of clergy as mandatory reporters after the Kansas Bureau of Investigation found nearly 190 Catholic clergy members suspected of abusing over 400 children since 1950. None were named and no charges have been filed against any of the living clergy suspected of abusing children.
The mandatory reporter list currently includes medical care, mental health providers, school staff including administrators and teachers, child care providers, law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders.
