The Chicago Tribune reported this week that a teacher in the United States (US) has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for failing to report a colleague’s alleged sex with students. The Illinois middle school teacher, Ms April Courtney, was accused of knowing that her male colleague was having sex with a student and that she failed to report this knowledge to the relevant child protection authority.
Although this case relates to facts which occurred overseas, similar factual scenarios unfortunately also occur in Australia and, in some States and Territories, criminal offences for failing to report or act also exist.
Like Australia, the law on mandatory reporting in the US varies from State to State. There are however, general guidelines that typically apply to all jurisdictions.
There is a general duty for all mandatory reporters in US schools to make a report when, in their official capacity, a reporter suspects or believes that a child has been abused or neglected. In the US, ‘mandatory reporters’ include teachers, principals, nurses and other school personnel. Similar laws exist in different States and Territories in Australia.
Under US law, reports must also be made when the mandatory reporter has actual knowledge or observes a child being subjected to conditions that would reasonably result in harm to the child.
According to the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, in Illinois, a mandatory reporter’s wilful failure to report suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor upon a first violation and a ‘class 4 felon’ for a second or subsequent violation. Also, teachers may be subject to penalties by their regulatory boards for wilful failure to report.
The teacher who committed the abuse, Mr Michael Vucic, was a teacher at Gavin South Middle School in Ingleside, Illinois when he was accused of having an ongoing sexual relationship with two students at the school, starting when they were 12 and 15 years old. One of the students came forward to report the abuse Mr Vucic committed against her after he was arrested for his abuse of the other student.
Mr Vucic was accused of videotaping sexual acts in his classroom with the alleged victim and charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault.
After his arrest, he told authorities that Ms Courtney, his fellow teacher at the middle school, knew about the relationship with the student.
Authorities believe that Ms Courtney had known about the suspected abuse for months because of statements Mr Vucic had made to her about one of the student who was in her class.
According to The Chicago Tribune, Mr Vucic had even given Ms Courtney a bag of materials to ‘hold on to’ which included videotapes of recorded sex acts. The bag prompted Ms Courtney to go to the police.
As reported by The Chicago Tribune, Judge Rozenberg said that she ‘found Ms Courtney’s behaviour outrageous and callous and led to substantial suffering by a child’ and the fact that Mr Vucic made a statement that he had sex with a child and nothing was done was ‘abhorrent’. In her defence, Ms Courtney’s lawyer argued that she had thought that Mr Vucic’s statements about the student were ‘all talk’.
Ms Courtney was sentenced to thirty days in prison after pleading guilty to failing to report the alleged child sexual assault and her teaching licence will be revoked. In addition to her imprisonment, Ms Courtney will have to make a donation to a child advocacy group.
Mr Vucic is still awaiting trial, after being extradited from Bosnia, where he fled after his actions were reported. Two other former teachers from the school have also been charged with failing to report Mr Vucic’s alleged crimes and await trial.
The child protection laws in the US are similar to the laws that exist in Australia. That said, as we know, the child protection laws here vary between the States and Territories.
All States and Territories have child protection laws which impose mandatory reporting obligations on various members of government and non-government school communities. In some jurisdictions, criminal laws exist which also apply to persons at schools. Schools also have a general duty of care obligation towards all students to provide a safe environment for students.
Criminal and pecuniary penalties can apply to those who fail in their legislative mandatory reporting duties. In addition, if a teacher is a mandatory reporter, a failure meet their reporting obligations can also lead to disciplinary action against them from the relevant teaching institute or authority, including de-registration or suspension. A school could also be sued in negligence for damages on the basis that it breached the duty of care owed to its students.
The US case is a reminder to all schools that it is not just the perpetrator of child abuse in a school who can incur liability for the abuse. The case is a reminder to all members of a school community, that they may have mandatory duties to report on the abuse of a student, even if a teaching colleague is involved in the abuse. Non-mandatory reporters can also report under optional reporting avenues.
Recently, Victoria introduced two new criminal offences which apply to schools: the ‘failure to disclose’ and ‘failure to report’ offences. A person’s failure to comply with those laws could result in imprisonment for at least 3 years.
Similar criminal regimes apply in the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.