The Citadel Failed to Report Sex Abuse

“When the family did not pursue the matter, we did not either. We should have. Regardless of whether the law said we were supposed to report or not, we should have reported this. We should have taken more action.”

Sound familiar?  It should.  It’s basically the same excuse given by Catholic Bishop Robert Finn, the Boy Scouts of America officials, and Joe Paterno and others at Penn State.  Unfortunately, this is how institutional leaders explain their failures to report child sexual abuse.

This latest report concerns a now closed summer camp at The Citadel.  It’s clear after more than a week of reporting on the Penn State scandal and now CNN’s report on The Citadel failure, our society’s institutions are experiencing a systemic failure when it comes to reporting child sexual abuse.  No one can claim that the tragedy is isolated to one institution or demographic.  It’s clear to this writer that the legal community has to step in and change reporting laws across the country.  The problem has become epidemic and the victims are our own children.