Should Local Pastors be Mandatory Reporters in Sexual Assault Cases?
The Christian Fellowship Center (CFC) is a network of five North Country Churches in Potsdam, Canton, Moira, Madrid, and Governour. Currently, the CFC is under heavy scrutiny as clergy members have continually failed to report sexual abuse allegations amongst the community. Last May, a member of the Church named Sean Ferguson was charged with sexually abusing his daughters in 2015. Yet, head pastor Rick Sinclair and his clergy had been aware of the abuse since 2017 and failed to alert both authorities and members of the church.
The failure by Sinclair and the CFC clergy to report the abuse meant that Ferguson was allowed to be near his victims on a daily basis. Sinclair declined to be interviewed by North Country Public Radio (NCPR), but sent an email stating, “The particular details of my pastoral ministry and meetings with individuals are private.” This statement from Sinclair raises important questions. What crimes admitted during confession should be reported? How much digressionary power do pastors hold in these circumstances?
Currently in New York State, pastors are not mandated reporters, and anything said in confidence is protected by ecclesiastical privilege, which is similar to attorney-client privilege. The argument in support of ecclesiastical privilege is that a pastor can demand accountability as a leader who is separate from the law, and reprimand someone who would otherwise not have confessed. Also, if a pastor is told something by a victim in confidence, this law would obligate the pastor to report it. While there is validity to this argument, there are no legal mechanisms to ensure that a pastor must take allegations seriously.
The current New York state law on ecclesiastical privilege states that “unless the person confessing or confiding waives the privilege, a clergyman, or other minister of any religion or duly accredited Christian Science practitioner, shall not be allowed [to] disclose a confession or confidence made to him in his professional character as spiritual advisor.” However, due to continuous cases of sexual abuse by religious organizations, many states are now pushing for an exemption to ecclesiastical privilege when it comes to the sexual abuse of minors.
This Ferguson CFC case is not an isolated incident. For decades, allegations of abuse have surfaced within the community, and former CFC members like Abbi Nye have begun speaking out. Since leaving the CFC in 2005, and growing up within the church, Nye has co-founded a movement called ‘CFC Too,’ which provides victims with a platform to share their stories, and advocates for the passing of The Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act, which is currently in the Senate Rules Committee and only supported by Democratic legislators. This law would make it illegal to have sexual abuse of minors go unreported in New York, and if you are interested in supporting CFC too, call your local NY legislators and promote the CARE Act.