Massachusetts sexual abuse law

[Richards, Edward P.]

> I'm not aware of any law requiring persons who are obliged to report child abuse to the civil authorities (and, as Marci correctly stated, this includes most other professionals and only now is being extended to clergy)
>As a private citizen, I would also worry about having to defend defamation suits were I to publicize suspected child molesters on the type of evidence that calls for reporting to the authorities.

The only case I have seen on publication found no privilege.  It is a pretty interesting case where the defendants did report to the police, but the police did not believe them, so they started telling the neighbors:

http://biotech.law.umkc.edu/cases/privacy/schmitz_v_aston_review.htm

Ed

Edward P. Richards
Executive Director - Center for Public Health Law
The Ruby M. Hulen/UMKC Professor of Law
University of Missouri Kansas City
(816)235-2370 Fax (816)235-5276
richardse at umkc.edu
http://biotech.law.umkc.edu