WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) Tuesday urged the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families to hold a hearing on federal laws designed to protect children from sexual abuse. Casey called for a hearing that examines federal statutes designed to force those who witness the sexual abuse of a child to report the crime to authorities.
In a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families, Casey asked that the hearing pay special attention to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which is a law designed to create a single federal focus for preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect.
The move is in response a grand jury report that alleges Penn State officials failed to notify police when a graduate assistant told football coach Joe Paterno in 2002 that football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was abusing a boy in a locker room shower. Sandusky is alleged to have sexually abused at least eight young boys from 1994 through 2009. He was arrested Nov. 5.
Ten additional suspected victims have come forward since Sandusky’s arrest, reports the New York Times. Police are working to confirm the allegations.
