WA clergy may be required to report child abuse disclosed in confession

OLYMPIA — When there is suspicion of child abuse or neglect, state law requires certain professions, like teachers and social and health care workers, to report it to authorities. While most states include clergy on the list of mandated reporters, Washington is one of few states where they’re not required to report child abuse.

After two years of hurdles in the Legislature, Democratic lawmakers in the state are again attempting to pass legislation to add clergy to the list — this time without an exemption for when information of alleged abuse is obtained during confession.

The Senate Human Services Committee held a public hearing Tuesday for Senate Bill 5375, sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle. Five other Senate Democrats are signed on in support of the proposal.

Frame, a childhood sexual abuse survivor, told the committee that the idea for the bill came from reading an InvestigateWest story in 2022 about a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Spokane covering up sexual abuse within the church for decades.

She said a similar bill she sponsored last year, but that included that carve-out to keep clergy from breaking the “seal of confession,” fell apart in the House after a revelation during the legislative session that three separate Washington dioceses of the Catholic Church were being investigated for allegations of sex abuse by clergy.

“Quite frankly, that made it hard for me to stomach any argument about religious freedom being more important than preventing the abuse, including sexual abuse, of children,” Frame said.

While Frame tried to strike a compromise in previous years, she said she does not feel like she can compromise anymore, and stands by the current bill with no exemptions.

“The bill before us says that if you’re a member of the clergy that you have to report child abuse and neglect when you learn about it, no matter the scenario in which you obtain that information,” Frame said.

Several people who said they were sexually abused in the church testified in support of the legislation Tuesday.

Sharon Huling with the Clergy Accountability Coalition said the state constitution guarantees absolute freedom of conscience in all matters religious, but “it should not be so construed to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.”

“If the state cannot regulate religions, you should not be able to provide religions with exemptions either,” she said. “To be clear, the only people who have to worry about the privacy of their confession are child rapists and abusers.”

Three people testified against the proposal Tuesday including representatives for the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Washington State Catholic Conference.

Bishop Frank Schuster with the Archdiocese of Seattle said the rite of penance, also known as confession, is an act of worship, and that the penalty for breaking that seal is excommunication from the church. It is “impossible,” he said for a priest to comply with the bill. However, he noted, the seal of confession does not prevent priests from telling offenders to turn themselves in.

“We believe in the spirit of the bill and would be honored to be partners in reverting it so that it does not violate our constitutional freedom of religion,” Schuster said.

A similar bill is sponsored in the House by Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, but that bill has not been scheduled for a public hearing.

Mandated reporters are required to report suspicions of abuse within 48 hours, and those who are required but fail to report abuse are guilty of a gross misdemeanor, which can carry a sentence of up to 364 days in prison and a $5,000 fine.

If passed this session and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, the law would go into effect July 26.