Men and women who have experienced the trauma of molestation by a priest will appear at the State House this Monday to push for a bill that would require clergy to report suspected child abuse to authorities.

At an April 2 hearing before the Committee on Human Services, victims of clergy sexual abuse — many of whom have charged the defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan with assault (see “Cardinal Law, the Church, and Pedophilia,” News and Features, March 23) — plan to tell legislators that their lives would never have been shattered if such a requirement had been in place.

“There is no reason why members of the clergy should be exempt from our mandatory-reporting laws,” says Phil Saviano, who heads the local chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “The fact that legislators have allowed this policy to go unchallenged is unconscionable.”

Under a 1973 state law, doctors, teachers, psychologists, and other professionals must notify the police and the Department of Social Services of any suspected child abuse, whether physical or sexual. Clergy members — even those who supervise children — have always been exempted.

After representing victims of Geoghan and other pedophilic priests for years, Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian has recently drafted legislation submitted by Senator James Jajuga (D-Methuen) that would add priests, rabbis, and ministers to the current list of professionals. The bill would not mandate that clergy reveal “privileged communication” — such as confessions — to authorities.

Critics have long argued that the clergy exemption allows child molesters to remain in positions where they can strike again — Geoghan, for example, has been accused of molesting more than 100 children over three decades. Yet legislators have failed to act on previous legislation; last year, a similar bill drafted by Garabedian died in committee.

Garabedian says he refiled his bill to meet an obvious need. “This bill is about prevention,” he explains, “which I think is whole lot better than having to treat people for the harm caused by being molested.”

Saviano agrees. The exemption, he concludes, “is a legal loophole that the church has used to its advantage. It’s up to legislators to put an end to the loophole, and think about the safety of kids.”

The Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs will hear testimony on the Garabedian bill (S674) this Monday, April 2, at 11:30 a.m. at the Gardner Auditorium at the State House.

Issue Date: March 29 - April 5, 2001