Indiana lawmakers pushing for tougher penalties for failing to report child abuse

Yahoo

06-02-2025

Indiana lawmakers are considering a measure that would toughen the penalty for failing to report child abuse at schools, gyms, hospitals, daycares and other institutions.
House Bill 1412 would make it a class A misdemeanor for employees or volunteers to knowingly fail to report child abuse or neglect to police or the Indiana Department of Child Services. Repeat violators would face a level six felony.
The change would result in a higher maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $5,000 fine, or 2.5 years and $10,000 for repeat offenders. The maximum sentence under current law is six months and $1,000.
The bill would also require law enforcement to investigate whether an institution failed to report abuse when the alleged abuser is a staff member, coach or volunteer.
The measure, introduced by state Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, is intended to address the kind of high-profile failures that allowed widespread abuse in USA Gymnastics and other organizations.
"The country watched in horror as we learned that not only had some of our most elite gymnasts been horrifically abused, but that the cover up was pervasive and widespread," Cash said during a recent hearing on the bill. "As these stories played out, we learned that USA Gymnastics, based out of Indiana, had not only failed to make reports, but had actually told coaches and gymnasts that they would handle the accusations themselves."
She was referencing a scandal that an IndyStar investigation first exposed in 2016. Reporters found that the sport's national governing body failed to report concerns about the sexual abuse of its athletes to authorities. The failures included a five-week delay in reporting longtime USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who has since been accused of abusing hundreds of athletes.
"It was clear that despite being mandated reporters in the state of Indiana, these reports had not been made, and many young lives were devastated," Cash said. "A question remains: If we are all mandated reporters, where was the fallout for those who knowingly failed to make the reports?"
In Indiana, where USA Gymnastics is headquartered, the law requires anyone who has "reason to believe" that a child has been abused or neglected to "immediately" report it police or the Department of Child Services. However, nobody from the organization was ever prosecuted under the law.
USA Gymnastics isn't the only institution to receive scrutiny over its abuse reporting practices. IndyStar investigations have also uncovered reporting failures at schools and residential youth treatment centers.
Despite such findings, prosecutions for failing to report abuse are relatively uncommon. IndyStar found fewer than 30 convictions across the state over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023.
The new legislation has received support from child abuse prevention experts and investigators.
"The current system can fail children when there's a delay in reporting, an attempt to keep abuse quiet, or when somebody just chooses not to report at all," said Shannon Perry of the Children's Advocacy Center of Southeastern Indiana, an organization that facilitates forensic interviews with children on behalf of law enforcement.
Reporting delays can also make it difficult to hold perpetrators accountable, said Dawn Dobyns-Gross, a former investigator with the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office.
"A time lag allows others to destroy evidence, hide child victims and witnesses, or alter crime scenes, significantly hindering our ability to protect children and gather evidence for prosecution," she said.
Administrators with IU Health and Riley Hospital for Children have expressed some reservations about the bill because many people on a child's care team may become aware of abuse concerns, including doctors, nurses and social workers. Requiring all of them to report suspected abuse would be inefficient for the hospital and investigators.
To address those concerns, lawmakers introduced a change to the bill on Wednesday that would allow the duty to report to be delegated to someone else involved in the child's care as long as both parties document the referral in writing.
Cash proposed a similar bill last year, but it failed to advance due to time constraints, she said. This year's measure has received unanimous approval from two House committees and is now headed to the full House. If approved, it will then move to the Senate for consideration.
Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or [e-mail]. Follow him on X: @IndyStarTony.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill would toughen penalties for failing to report child abuse