A Utah legislator unveiled a proposal on Tuesday that he says strikes a balance between clergy-penitent privilege for religious confessions and the need to report suspected abuse.
The bill, HB432 , introduced by freshman lawmaker Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns, and sponsored by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, in the Senate, would amend the state’s child abuse reporting requirements to include legal protections for members of the clergy who report cases of ongoing abuse or neglect that were learned through a religious confession.
Currently, ordained religious officials, or clergy, are exempt from statutory requirements that mandate Utahns to immediately report suspected child abuse or neglect to child welfare services to a police officer. The reporting exemption for clergy members applies only if information regarding potential child abuse or neglect was shared by the perpetrator during a confession and the member of the clergy is bound to maintain confidentiality.