BILL NUMBER: AB 299	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 30, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Maze

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2005

   An act to amend Section 11166 of the Penal Code, relating to
mandatory child abuse reporting.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 299, as amended, Maze.  Mandatory reporting.
   Existing law requires that reports of suspected child abuse or
neglect be made by mandated reporters, via telephone and written
report, following specified procedures and timelines, to any police
department or sheriff's department, county probation department, as
specified, or the county welfare department.
   This bill would permit child abuse or neglect reports to be made
via fax or electronic transmission.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 11166 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   11166.
   (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a mandated reporter
shall make a report to an agency specified in Section 11165.9
whenever the mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity
or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or
observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably
suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. The mandated
reporter shall make a report to the agency immediately or as soon as
is practicably possible by telephone  , fax, or electronic
transmission  and the mandated reporter shall prepare and
send, fax, or electronically transmit a written report thereof within
36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident. The
mandated reporter may include with the report any nonprivileged
documentary evidence the mandated reporter possesses relating to the
incident.
   (1) For the purposes of this article, "reasonable suspicion" means
that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain a
suspicion, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a
like position, drawing, when appropriate, on his or her training and
experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect. For the purpose of
this article, the pregnancy of a minor does not, in and of itself,
constitute a basis for a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse.
   (2) The agency shall be notified and a report shall be prepared
and sent  , faxed, or electronically transmitted  even if
the child has expired, regardless of whether or not the possible
abuse was a factor contributing to the death, and even if suspected
child abuse was discovered during an autopsy.
   (3) A report made by a mandated reporter pursuant to this section
shall be known as a mandated report.
   (b) Any mandated reporter who fails to report an incident of known
or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect as required by this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months
confinement in a county jail or by a fine of one thousand dollars
($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine. If a mandated
reporter intentionally conceals his or her failure to report an
incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or severe neglect
under this section, the failure to report is a continuing offense
until an agency specified in Section 11165.9 discovers the offense.
   (c) (1) A clergy member who acquires knowledge or a reasonable
suspicion of child abuse or neglect during a penitential
communication is not subject to subdivision (a). For the purposes of
this subdivision, "penitential communication" means a communication,
intended to be in confidence, including, but not limited to, a
sacramental confession, made to a clergy member who, in the course of
the discipline or practice of his or her church, denomination, or
organization, is authorized or accustomed to hear those
communications, and under the discipline, tenets, customs, or
practices of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a
duty to keep those communications secret.
   (2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to modify or
limit a clergy member's duty to report known or suspected child abuse
or neglect when the clergy member is acting in some other capacity
that would otherwise make the clergy member a mandated reporter.
   (3) (A) On or before January 1, 2004, a clergy member or any
custodian of records for the clergy member may report to an agency
specified in Section 11165.9 that the clergy member or any custodian
of records for the clergy member, prior to January 1, 1997, in his or
her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her
employment, other than during a penitential communication, acquired
knowledge or had a reasonable suspicion that a child had been the
victim of sexual abuse that the clergy member or any custodian of
records for the clergy member did not previously report the abuse to
an agency specified in Section 11165.9. The provisions of Section
11172 shall apply to all reports made pursuant to this paragraph.
   (B) This paragraph shall apply even if the victim of the known or
suspected abuse has reached the age of majority by the time the
required report is made.
   (C) The local law enforcement agency shall have jurisdiction to
investigate any report of child abuse made pursuant to this paragraph
even if the report is made after the victim has reached the age of
majority.
   (d) Any commercial film and photographic print processor who has
knowledge of or observes, within the scope of his or her professional
capacity or employment, any film, photograph, videotape, negative,
or slide depicting a child under the age of 16 years engaged in an
act of sexual conduct, shall report the instance of suspected child
abuse to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the case
immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, by telephone
 , fax, or electronic transmission  and shall
prepare and send, fax, or electronically submit a written report of
it with a copy of the film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide
attached within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the
incident. As used in this subdivision, "sexual conduct" means any of
the following:
   (1) Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital,
anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or
opposite sex or between humans and animals.
   (2) Penetration of the vagina or rectum by any object.
   (3) Masturbation for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the
viewer.
   (4) Sadomasochistic abuse for the purpose of sexual stimulation of
the viewer.
   (5) Exhibition of the genitals, pubic, or rectal areas of any
person for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
   (e) Any mandated reporter who knows or reasonably suspects that
the home or institution in which a child resides is unsuitable for
the child because of abuse or neglect of the child shall bring the
condition to the attention of the agency to which, and at the same
time as, he or she makes a report of the abuse or neglect pursuant to
subdivision (a).
   (f) Any other person who has knowledge of or observes a child whom
he or she knows or reasonably suspects has been a victim of child
abuse or neglect may report the known or suspected instance of child
abuse or neglect to an agency specified in Section 11165.9.
   (g) When two or more persons, who are required to report, jointly
have knowledge of a known or suspected instance of child abuse or
neglect, and when there is agreement among them, the telephone report
may be made by a member of the team selected by mutual agreement and
a single report may be made and signed by the selected member of the
reporting team. Any member who has knowledge that the member
designated to report has failed to do so shall thereafter make the
report.
   (h) (1) The reporting duties under this section are individual,
and no supervisor or administrator may impede or inhibit the
reporting duties, and no person making a report shall be subject to
any sanction for making the report.  However, internal procedures to
facilitate reporting and apprise supervisors and administrators of
reports may be established provided that they are not inconsistent
with this article.
   (2) The internal procedures shall not require any employee
required to make reports pursuant to this article to disclose his or
her identity to the employer.
   (3) Reporting the information regarding a case of possible child
abuse or neglect to an employer, supervisor, school principal, school
counselor, coworker, or other person shall not be a substitute for
making a mandated report to an agency specified in Section 11165.9.
   (i) A county probation or welfare department shall immediately, or
as soon as practicably possible, report by telephone, fax, or
electronic transmission to the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the case, to the agency given the responsibility
for investigation of cases under Section 300 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, and to the district attorney's office every known
or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect, as defined in
Section 11165.6, except acts or omissions coming within subdivision
(b) of Section 11165.2, or reports made pursuant to Section 11165.13
based on risk to a child which relates solely to the inability of the
parent to provide the child with regular care due to the parent's
substance abuse, which shall be reported only to the county welfare
or probation department. A county probation or welfare department
also shall send, fax, or electronically transmit a written report
thereof within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the
incident to any agency to which it makes a telephone report under
this subdivision.
   (j) A law enforcement agency shall immediately, or as soon as
practicably possible, report by telephone, fax, or electronic
transmission to the agency given responsibility for investigation of
cases under Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and to
the district attorney's office every known or suspected instance of
child abuse or neglect reported to it, except acts or omissions
coming within subdivision (b) of Section 11165.2, which shall be
reported only to the county welfare or probation department. A law
enforcement agency shall report to the county welfare or probation
department every known or suspected instance of child abuse or
neglect reported to it which is alleged to have occurred as a result
of the action of a person responsible for the child's welfare, or as
the result of the failure of a person responsible for the child's
welfare to adequately protect the minor from abuse when the person
responsible for the child's welfare knew or reasonably should have
known that the minor was in danger of abuse. A law enforcement agency
also shall send, fax, or electronically transmit a written report
thereof within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the
incident to any agency to which it makes a telephone report under
this subdivision.