Was it proper for school district to keep MM child abuse investigation internal?
Law requires reporting to police when there is “reasonable cause” to believe that a child has suffered abuse.
The Longview School District may come under increased scrutiny for its handling of a sexual abuse allegations involving athletes at Mark Morris High School.
Longview Police Chief Robert Huhta confirmed Tuesday that an alleged victim was the first to report the case to police, doing so on Monday. The agency had not received an official notice from the district or a referral from Child Protective Services, which is customary in child abuse cases, Huhta said.
Much about this issue depends on what is now unknown to the public: The scope of the alleged abuse — its nature, how many students were involved, when and how long it occurred.
Longview School District spokesman Rick Parrish said by text Tuesday that the district “consulted with Longview PD and sought out legal advice and was told it was not a CPS reporting matter.”
The Mark Morris school resource officer told KATU on Monday that the school is “addressing the matter internally” and hadn’t yet requested the department’s help.
That apparently was before Huhta confirmed to Lower Columbia Currents on Monday that the department is investigating an alleged sexual assault at the school after the alleged victim came forward.
State law identifies teachers and all educators — including athletic department personnel and coaches — as “mandatory reporters” of child abuse, including sex abuse. The abuse must be reported to law enforcement either directly or through organizational channels.
The law requires reporting whenever there is “reasonable cause” to believe that a child has suffered abuse. Anyone failing to report can be found guilty of a gross misdemeanor, sentenced for up to a year in jail and fined $5,000.
In his email to Mark Morris parents Sunday, Principal Aaron Whitright acknowledged that “staff are mandatory reporters and consult with law enforcement on a regular basis. Staff follow strict discipline guidelines and state laws in addition to adhering to WIAA guidelines when student athletes are involved in disciplinary issues.”
However, he did not say the district reported anything to police.
In a scolding tone, he said, “false rumors are circulating on social media and undermine the feeling of safety in our school.”
A spokesman for the State Attorney General’s Office was not immediately able to shed light on whether the district fell short of complying with the mandatory reporting law.
An MM student and an Mark Morris graduate who spoke at the Longview School Board meeting Monday night identified the locker room as a trouble spot for abuse and said sex abuse is endemic there. And a group of students gathered along 15th Avenue outside the school Monday morning to protest what they consider the district’s tepid and inadequate response to reports of abuse.
District spokesman Rick Parrish said the students who spoke up have not been subject to discipline except, perhaps, for unexcused absences. The student who addressed the school board had an excused absence on Tuesday, Parrish said.
It is public knowledge that several MM student-athletes have been under suspension, but it is not certain whether they were involved in the alleged assault. I am declining to be more specific for now because they are juveniles and have not been charged.
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I am not allowing story comments to prevent anyone from deliberately or accidentally identifying the juveniles involved.