The Majority of States in the U.S. Allow Clergy to Withhold Reporting Child Abuse
The "clergy loophole" adds to the moral rot of the United States.
In over half of U.S. states, religious clergy are exempt from laws requiring professionals to report suspected child abuse to authorities. These exemptions are made a reality under what's known as the clergy loophole, which protects information shared during confessional settings, and have allowed for an unknown number of predators to continue abusing children despite having confessed to their crimes.
Mandatory Reporting Laws – With One Major Exception
Nearly every state mandates that certain professionals report known or suspected child abuse. These include:
Social workers
Teachers, principals, and school officials
Physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers
Therapists and mental health professionals
Childcare workers
Medical examiners or coroners
Social workers
Law enforcement officers
Some states also require reporting from additional roles like probation officers, domestic violence advocates, camp counselors, and even IT professionals. Yet in 32 states, clergy are not required to report child abuse disclosed during confession.
How the Loophole Persists
Religious institutions, particularly churches, have actively lobbied against closing this loophole, framing mandatory reporting as an infringement on religious freedom. They argue that forcing clergy to disclose confessional information violates sacred traditions and religious protections.
Churches argue that the information is protected under "clergy-penitent privilege" (for those who do not attend church, they're talking about information shared during a confession). So, in 32 states, clergy are exempt from reporting child abuse if they learn about it in a confessional conversation.
To put this into perspective: when you see a therapist or other mental healthcare professional, for example, you work with them under "therapist-patient privilege". This means that what you share with them cannot be shared with others; it creates a standard of trust. However, if you disclose to your therapist that you have harmed or intend to harm another person, or have been the victim of child abuse, your therapist must report this.
A Pattern of Abuse and Concealment
Allowing clergy to withhold reports of child abuse is alarming, especially when considering the long history of abuse within religious institutions.
Religious institutions, most notably the Catholic Church, have a long and documented history of tolerating, covering up, and enabling child sexual abuse. Internal reports and public investigations reveal consistent efforts to shield perpetrators and silence victims.
This pattern is not limited to the Catholic Church. Other denominations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church), have also faced incredibly serious allegations. Yet, in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the Church could withhold testimony and documents relating to child abuse disclosed in confession under the state's clergy privilege laws.
Legislative Inaction
A September 2022 report by AP News revealed that over the past two decades, state lawmakers have proposed more than 130 bills seeking to create or amend child abuse reporting laws relating to the clergy loophole. The vast majority have failed.
For example, in Utah, four bipartisan bills introduced in 2023 were quietly killed after religious groups reportedly influenced legislative leaders behind the scenes.
Even those that have passed, such as the new law in Washington state, have faced blowback. After Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5375 into law on May 2, the Trump administration announced that it would be opening an investigation into the law, claiming that it was both a violation of the First Amendment and “anti-Catholic.” Similarly, the Catholic Church announced that priests in Washington state will face excommunication if they comply with the new law.
States With a Clergy Reporting Exemption
These 32 states allow clergy to withhold information about child abuse disclosed during confession:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
States have shown us that closing the clergy loophole is possible. It’s time all elected officials make this a priority.
Find your representative and contact them to demand that they take action in their state to close the clergy loophole.
Sample email/phone script:
Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME]. I am contacting you regarding [STATE]’s mandatory reporting laws. It has come to my attention that our state has a loophole that allows clergy to be exempt from reporting cases of child abuse if the information was obtained during a confession. While I respect freedom of religion, I also believe that we should be doing all we can to protect children – this includes requiring that clergy report child abuse to the proper authorities. Eighteen states across the U.S. have already closed the clergy loophole – including southern states like Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. There is no reason why our state should not join them.
Victim support and resources:
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is the largest, oldest and most active support group for individuals who have been harmed by religious and institutional authorities (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns, coaches, teachers, and others).
The Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting service was created to gather and relay reports of sexual misconduct involving bishops of the United States, and reports of their intentional interference in a sexual abuse investigation.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the United States. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers in the US.