Responding and Reporting

How should churches and ministries respond to child sexual abuse in ways that are both biblically faithful and legally responsible?

What steps should ministries and nonprofits take to prevent, respond to, and defend against child sexual abuse claims?

With thousands of active agents in the United States and around the world, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a viable recipient of international child abuse reports.

A Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Rev. Jiang, was accused of sexually abusing a child. He denied having done it. The criminal case against Rev. Jiang was voluntarily dismissed by the prosecutor.

In a perfect world, no one would file reports of child abuse unless they were really true. But it happens all the time—in fact, most of the reports that go to the Department of Human Services are unfounded. What should you do if a DHS caseworker shows up at your door?

Reporting child abuse is complex and important. Failure to report abuse can leave children at risk. Still, be wise before picking up the phone. An error in one direction may leave a child abused or make you criminally liable. An error in the other direction may damage a family, ruin a career, or expose you to a defamation lawsuit.

If a religious organization believes that a minister or other employee has engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior, what responsibility does it have to notify others? How does child sexual abuse change the rules for normal termination procedure? Those who become victims of that person insist it is the organization’s duty to share that information. Employees who have been terminated for such behavior say sharing such information is a breach of confidence amounting to defamation.