GOP legislator blocks bill requiring clergy to report child sex abuse

An Arizona Republican is refusing to require clergy to report confessions of child abuse despite a horrific case involving the Mormon Church.

A Bisbee father of six admitted to his bishop during a counseling session that he was raping his then-5-year-old daughter, but court records show that Bishop John Herrod, and then his replacement Bishop Robert “Kim” Mauzy, were advised by attorney Merrill Nelson not to alert anyone outside the church — and the man then started raping his 6-week-old daughter, reported the Arizona Republic.

Arizona law requires teachers and doctors to report suspected abuse, there is no requirement for churches to do the same. In fact, many argue that confidentiality is essential.

“The seal of confession is a sacred, sacred part of the Catholic church,” said state Rep. Quang Nguyen, who is Catholic.

A Cochise County judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by three of the children of the man, stating that the church is not responsible for the ongoing abuse. The man was finally arrested in 2017 and later killed himself while awaiting trial in jail.

State Rep. Stacey Travers (D-Phoenix) introduced a bill earlier this year requiring clergy members to report abuse discovered during confessions or confidential communications “if there is a reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue or may be a threat to other minors."

But Nguyen refuses to allow it to receive a hearing because he said it is "an attack on the church."

“The victim has the parents, the victim has the teachers, the victim has friends, the victim has relatives that he or she is close to,’’ said Nguyen, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. “So, it doesn’t need a priest to be able to go to court and testify.’’

The girl who endured seven years of abuse said she was failed by all of those support systems.

“They just let it keep happening,” the girl told the Associated Press last year. “They just said, ‘Hey, let’s excommunicate her father.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Let’s have them do therapy.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Hey, let’s forgive and forget and all this will go away.’ It didn’t go away.”

“The seal of confession is never to be broken, and priests will go to jail for it," Nguyen said.