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| WELS District President John Steinbrenner has a duty to report child abuse, not a license to cover it up. |
Who are mandated reporters?
The following persons who, in the performance of their professional duties, have reasonable cause to suspect* * that a child has suffered harm as a result of abuse or neglect, must immediately (as soon as reasonably possible-no later than 24 hours) report that information to the nearest office of the state’s Department of Health & Social Services, Office of Children’s Services:
- Practitioners of the healing arts, including chiropractors, mental health counselors, social workers, dentists, dental hygienists, health aides, nurses, nurse practitioners, certified nurse aides, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, optometrists, osteopaths, naturopaths, physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, physicians, physician assistants, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychological associates, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, hearing aid dealers, marital and family therapists, religious healing practitioners, acupuncturists, and surgeons;
- Administrative officers of institutions, including public and private hospitals or other facilities for medical diagnosis, treatment or care;
- Paid employees of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention programs, and crisis intervention and prevention programs;
- Paid employees of an organization that provides counseling or treatment to individuals seeking to control their use of drugs or alcohol;
- School teachers and school administrative staff members, including athletic coaches, of public and private schools;
- Peace officers and officers of the state Department of Corrections;
- Child care providers, including foster parents, day care providers and paid staff.
- Members of a child fatality review team established under AS 12.65.015 (e) or 12.65.120 or members of a multidisciplinary child protection team created under AS 47.14.300
The law encourages the persons named above to also report cases that come to their attention in their nonprofessional capacities.
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| Synod President Mark Schroeder has a duty to report, as an administrator of an institution. |
Five women have sued the Institute in Basic Life Principles, once a leader in the Christian homeschooling movement, charging that the organization and its board of directors enabled and covered up sexual abuse and harassment of interns, employees, and other participants in its programs.
Each of the plaintiffs — Gretchen Wilkinson, Charis Barker, Rachel Frost, Rachel Lees and a Jane Doe — seeks $50,000 in damages, alleging that the organization and its board acted negligently, with willful and wanton disregard for them, and engaged in a civil conspiracy to conceal the wrongdoing.
The lawsuit is the latest chapter in a long-simmering scandal that has engulfed the ministry once admired by conservative Christian parents for teaching them how to raise obedient, devout and chaste children since the 1960s. The ministry has found dedicated followers in politics, including Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), who sought to replace Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) as House Speaker, and in entertainment.
Last year, IBLP’s founder and longtime president, Bill Gothard, resigned amid allegations by more than 30 women that he had sexually harassed them. Former followers have said that Gothard was revered as an almost saint-like figure, and that members of IBLP’s homeschooling arm, the Advanced Training Institute, feared questioning him.
Earlier this year, IBLP was once again in the headlines after the gossip magazine In Touch reported that Josh Duggar, the eldest son of reality television stars and longtime Advanced Training Institute members Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, had been sent to an IBLP training center as a teenager after he admitted he had sexually abused four of his younger sisters and a family friend.
The new lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in DuPage County Circuit Court in Illinois, where IBLP’s headquarters is located, charges that IBLP, its employees and directors “frequently received reports” of “sexual abuse, sexual harassment and inappropriate/unauthorized touching.” But, the lawsuit said, they never reported “these serious, potentially criminal allegations to law enforcement authorities or the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services” as required by state law.
David Gibbs III, the attorney representing the women, said in an interview the women decided to litigate only after unsuccessful efforts to address the issues with the IBLP board of directors, who are also named in the lawsuit. Gibbs added that his clients did not want to sue, but that the board “rather stubbornly and in my opinion rather arrogantly basically challenged the girls to bring the case.”
The board, he said, “is not operating in a spirit of transparency or openness,” and has not discussed the allegations with the victims.
IBLP did not respond to a request for comment.
