§ 40-11-3.3. Duty to report — Sexual abuse of a child in an educational program.
(a) Any person who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that any child has been the
victim of sexual abuse by an employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer of an educational
program as defined in § 40-11-2 shall, within twenty-four (24) hours, transfer that information to the department
of children, youth and families, or its agent; provided, however, that if the person
mandated to report is an employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer of an educational
program as defined in § 40-11-2, they shall immediately notify the principal, headmaster, executive director, or
other person in charge of the educational program, or his or her designated agent.
The principal, headmaster, executive director, or other person in charge of the educational
program, or his or her designated agent, shall be responsible for all subsequent notification
to the department of children, youth and families, or its agent in the manner required
by this section. In the case of a public educational program, the principal, headmaster,
executive director, or other person in charge of the educational program, or his or
her designated agent, shall also notify the superintendent of the public educational
program. Any transferred information shall include the name, title, and contact information
for every employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer of the educational program who
is believed to have direct knowledge of the allegation. Nothing in this section is
intended to require more than one report from any educational program for a specific
incident.
(b) In order to provide guidance and consistency in reporting, the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education shall promulgate policies and procedures for the creation
and handling of reports made by the principal, headmaster, executive director, or
other person in charge of the educational program, or his or her designated agent
in order to carry out the intent of this section.
(c) The department of children, youth and families, or its agent shall immediately forward
the report to state police and local law enforcement, and shall initiate an investigation
of the allegations of sexual abuse if it determines that the report meets the criteria
for a child protective services investigation. As a result of those reports and referrals,
the department shall refer those children to appropriate services and support systems
in order to provide for their health and welfare. In the event the department substantiates
the allegations of sexual abuse against an employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer
of an educational program, the department shall immediately notify the state police;
the local law enforcement agency; the department of education; the educational program;
the person who is the subject of the investigation; and the parent, or parents, of
the child who is alleged to be the victim of the sexual abuse of the department's
findings.
(d) The director of the department of children, youth and families is authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations pertaining to the investigation of the allegation of sexual
abuse in order to carry out the intent of this section.
(e) For purposes of this section, "reasonable cause to know or suspect� means that it
is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain a suspicion, based upon facts
that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing, when appropriate,
on the person's training and experience, to suspect child abuse. "Reasonable cause
to know or suspect� does not require certainty that child sexual abuse has occurred
nor does it require a specific medical indication of child sexual abuse; any "reasonable
cause to know or suspect� is sufficient.