Jan. 28, 2025 at 7:32 pm
By
Seattle Times staff reporter
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 toadd 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.