Florida Passes New Strict Laws on Reporting Abuse or Be Fine $1 Million
Is it too little, too late for this now!! The Penn State scandal helped shape a new Florida sexual abuse reporting law that has been called the toughest in the nation, holding universities and individuals financially and criminally liable for failure to report suspected abuse.
Under the law, which went into effect Oct. 1, colleges and universities that "knowingly and willfully" fail to report known or suspected child abuse or prevent another person from doing so will be slapped with a $1 million fine for each failure.
"We learned is we didn't want to take a chance on [them]," said Ron Book, president of Lauren's Kids, a nonprofit that helped spearhead the legislation.
"Applying Penn State to the old Florida law, would Mike McQueary had to report what he saw?" Book said, referring to the former Penn State assistant coach who witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the school's showers.
"The answer was he would not have."
Previously, a person who called the state abuse hotline to report a suspected incident involving a child would have been asked to call law enforcement if the suspected predator was not a care taker or parent of the child, Book said.
"What we've learned is it's hard enough to get a victim or observer to call once," he said.
Under the new law, witnesses, like McQueary, or people who suspect abuse, are required to call a centralized hotline run by the Florida Department of Children and Families or face third-degree felony charges and a $5,000 fine.
The Florida Department of Children and Families reported a 25 percent increase in calls since the law went into effect on Oct. 1.We always wonder why it takes a major case and the abuse of so many victims to make changes in laws? It seems to never matters until it's an embarrassment on America. Absolutely too little to late!
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