Directors of treatment facilities and their employees are mandated by statute to report instances of abuse of residents or patients, but as this week’s acquittal of a Whisper Ridge administrator made clear, see: http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350469502, a one year statute of limitations on failure to report makes it too easy for all those involved to escape responsibility. The boss of the woman on trial this week claimed it was her choice not to report the incident but she could not be prosecuted because of the one year statute of limitations and because of the complications of investigating such a case, it took the police about six months just to do the investigation, let alone find all the guilty parties.
If we as a state and a country are going to continue to reserve the harshest penalties and post-prison restrictions on child molesters, why are we letting off the hook so easily those in the best position to identify and help catch child molesters–those mandated to report any suspicion of abuse of a child in their care?
What kind of message are we sending to the teens and children in residential care? That they are easy targets and no one will pay a penalty when they are abused?
If the statute of limitations were extended to even 2 years, it might make all the difference in cases like these at Whisper Ridge, owned by Psychiatric Solutions.
May 28, 2007 at 7:42 am
[...] a broader perspective. Although there are entries relevant to children and youth (see one about Whisper Ridge), CPW does not appear to have a specific interest in children and youth nor in schooling, but some [...]