BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1713
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1713 (Campos)
As Amended August 21, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 10, 2012) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 22, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Makes "image processors" mandated reporters under the
Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) and expands the
list of media subject to CANRA provisions.
The Senate amendments make technical, non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that any mandated reporter who has knowledge of, or
observes, a child in his or her professional capacity or
within the scope of his or her employment whom he or she
knows, or reasonably suspects, has been the victim of child
abuse shall report that incident immediately to a specified
child protection agency by telephone, and further requires a
written report be sent within 36 hours.
2)Defines a "mandated reporter" under CANRA as any of the
following: a teacher; an instructional aide; a teacher's aide
or teacher's assistant employed by any public or private
school; a classified employee of any public school; an
administrative officer or supervisor of child welfare and
attendance, or a certificated pupil personnel employee of any
public or private school; an administrator of a public or
private day camp; an administrator or employee of a public or
private youth center, youth recreation program, or youth
organization; an administrator or employee of a public or
private organization whose duties require direct contact and
supervision of children; any employee of a county office of
education or the State Department of Education, whose duties
bring the employee into contact with children on a regular
basis; a licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a
licensed community care or child day care facility; a Head
Start program teacher; a licensing worker or licensing
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evaluator employed by a licensing agency as defined; a public
assistance worker; an employee of a child care institution,
including, but not limited to, foster parents, group home
personnel, and personnel of residential care facilities; a
social worker, probation officer, or parole officer; an
employee of a school district police or security department;
any person who is an administrator or presenter of, or a
counselor in, a child abuse prevention program in any public
or private school; a district attorney investigator,
inspector, or local child support agency caseworker unless the
investigator, inspector, or caseworker is working with an
attorney appointed to represent a minor; a peace officer, as
defined, who is not otherwise described in this section; a
firefighter, except for volunteer firefighters; a physician
and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist, resident,
intern, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse, dental
hygienist, optometrist, marriage and family therapist,
clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or
any other person who is currently licensed as a health care
professional as specified; any emergency medical technician I
or II, paramedic, or other person certified to provide
emergency medical services; a registered psychological
assistant; a marriage and family therapist trainee, as
defined; a registered unlicensed marriage and family therapist
intern; a state or county public health employee who treats a
minor for venereal disease or any other condition; a coroner;
a medical examiner, or any other person who performs
autopsies; a commercial film and photographic print processor,
as defined; a child visitation monitor, as defined; an animal
control officer or humane society officer, as defined; a
clergy member, as defined; any custodian of records of a
clergy member, as specified; any employee of any police
department, county sheriff's department, county probation
department, or county welfare department; an employee or
volunteer of a Court Appointed Special Advocate program, as
defined; any custodial officer, as defined; any person
providing services to a minor child, as specified; an alcohol
and drug counselor, as defined; a clinical counselor trainee,
as defined; and a registered clinical counselor intern.
3)Requires a 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, to
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telephonically report to the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the case immediately, or as soon as
practicably possible, and subsequently to prepare and send,
fax, or electronically transmit a written report with a copy
of the film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide
attached. The written report must be transmitted within 36
hours.
4)Provides that mandated reporters shall not incur any civil or
criminal liability for disseminating photographs with the
reports required by CANRA.
5)Provides that the reporting duties under CANRA 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 sanctions for making the report.
6)Provides that any mandated reporter who fails to report an
incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or
neglect is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six
months confinement in a county jail, or by a fine of $1,000,
or by both imprisonment and fine.
7)Encourages, strongly, employers to provide their employees who
are mandated reporters with training in the duties imposed by
CANRA. This training shall include training in child abuse
and neglect identification and training in child abuse and
neglect reporting. Whether or not employers provide their
employees with training in child abuse and neglect
identification and reporting, the employers shall provide
their employees who are mandated reporters with a statement
that informs the employee that he or she is a mandated
reporter and informs the employee of his or her reporting
obligations and of his or her confidentiality rights.
8)Requires that any person who reasonably believes he or she has
observed the commission of a murder, rape, or lewd act upon a
child under the age of 14 years to notify a peace officer, and
provides that the failure to do so is a misdemeanor punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,500, by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than six months, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
9)Excludes from the reporting requirements for those three
crimes the following people:
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a) A person who is related to either the victim or the
offender, including a husband, wife, parent, child,
brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, or other person
related by consanguinity or affinity;
b) A person who fails to report based on a reasonable
mistake of fact; and,
c) A person who fails to report based on a reasonable fear
for his or her own safety or for the safety of his or her
family.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill made "image processors"
mandated reporters under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting
Act (CANRA) and expands the list of media subject to CANRA
provisions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Expanded the list of persons identified as mandated reporters
to include image processors.
2)Defined an "image processor" as any person who "prepares,
publishes, produces, develops, duplicates, or prints any
representation of information, data, or an image, including,
but not limited to, any film, filmstrip, photograph, negative,
slide, photocopy, videotape, video laser disk, computer
hardware, computer software, computer floppy disk, data
storage medium, CD-ROM, computer-generated equipment, or
computer-generated image, for compensation."
3)Expanded the list of media to which CANRA provisions apply to
include, among other things, any representation of
information, data, or an image.
4)Made technical, non-substantive changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Potential ongoing costs to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR), likely less than $150,000 (General
Fund) for increased state prison commitments to the extent
increasing the number of mandated reporters results in
additional felony convictions.
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2)Potential ongoing costs (Local Revenue Fund 2011/General Fund)
to county child welfare services departments for fielding and
investigation of increased mandated reports.
3)Ongoing costs to the Judicial Branch, potentially in the range
of $25,000 to $50,000 (General Fund) for additional
misdemeanor and felony court filings.
4)Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
process additional CANRA reports.
5)Non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs due to additional
reporting and investigation, as well as increased enforcement
for failure to report, offset to a degree by fine revenue.
COMMENTS : According to the author," Modernization of the
terminology in the Penal Code is needed to reflect advances in
image reproduction technology and bring our mandated reporter
law into the digital age. Under current law, 'commercial film
and photographic print processor' means any person who develops
exposed photographic film into negatives, slides, or prints, or
who makes prints from negatives or slides, for compensation.
Which makes me ask - When was the last time you developed a roll
of film?
"I can tell you that the criminal child abusers are not using
'exposed film' to create 'prints,' and from that child
pornography. They are using computers and smart phones and
flash drives to create and share digital images in data-based
formats. This fact was confirmed by a 2005 Department of
Justice study of child pornography possessors arrested in
Internet-related crimes, which revealed that 96% had images on
hard drives or removable media, and ONLY 18% possessed images in
photographs, books or magazines.
"An updated definition of digital image is already included in
the Penal Code definition of child exploitation, which covers,
film, filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, photocopy,
videotape, video laser disc, computer hardware, computer
software, computer floppy disc, data storage media, CD-ROM, or
computer-generated equipment or any other computer-generated
images. It is a gap in the law that the mandated reporters most
likely to come across these images - commercial film and
photographic print processors - are not expressly required to
report suspected child abuse or neglect to authorities when they
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appear in digital and not photo-negative form. AB 1713 would
close that gap."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0005378