(ChurchLeaders) A bill introduced in the North Dakota state legislature could remove “clergy-penitent privilege.” If passed, the new law would require clergy members, who are already designated as mandatory reporters, to report child abuse even if they learn about it while acting in the capacity of a spiritual advisor.
According to current North Dakota law, a “member of the clergy” who has “knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect a child is abused or neglected, or has died as a result of abuse or neglect, shall report the circumstances to the department if the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information received by that individual in that individual’s official or professional capacity.”