Local investigator prompts bill to protect children from sexual abuse

A new bill authored by Senator Mark Messmer will require schools across the state to teach students and faculty about the signs of physical and sexual abuse.

Messmer said he was prompted to revisit an earlier bill that made the training voluntary for schools after he met with Tammy Lampert in Jasper to tour a special house where she conducts forensic interviews with children that have been abused. The house features a special room, Lisa’s Room, where children can feel safe to talk about their experience with Lampert and other specially trained interviewers. You can read about the home here. 

As the executive director of Southwest Indiana Child Advocacy Center Coalition, Lampert assists in these type of investigations across a seven-county area that includes Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Martin, Orange, Perry and Spencer counties.

“This started with him coming to our CAC in Jasper and us telling him about Indiana’s lack of such a law. I didn’t even ask him to do anything. Weeks later he called me in the evening, which was surprising, and said, ‘I took your idea about needing this law to a study committee and we want to do it,’” Lampert said.

Tammy had learned of a similar law in Texas called Jenna’s Law requiring the schools to provide material to recognize abuse. “I had the privilege of meeting with Jenna Quinn and I learned about her journey,” Tammy said.

Jenna Quinn was the victim of sexual abuse and when her abuse came out into the open, her mother found a pamphlet at the hospital regarding the ten ways to recognize sexual abuse in children. “Her mom wondered why this information wasn’t being shared,” Tammy explained.

Jenna’s Law, passed in 2009, required all schools, daycare facilities and other organizations to provide age-appropriate training for all children. Since then about a third of the country has passed similar laws.

The bill passed in 2012 in Indiana had similar objectives but only covered grades two through five and it the schools were not required to conduct the training.

The new bill, Senate Bill 355, requires the training for kindergarten through 12th grade. It also covers private schools.

Lampert explained that a recent “No More Secrets” campaign in a northern Indiana county reinforced the importance of the in-school training for children. State Senator Frank Mrvan’s son spearheaded the training and reached about 10,000 students in a week.

“73 kids in one week came forward,” Lampert said.

Horrifying.

“That’s the thing,” Lampert continued. “Only 5 to 10 percent of abuse cases get reported. Which is crazy because we have so many cases as it is. But to think that only 5 percent to 10 percent is getting reported. That is the education piece that is missing.”

Getting the training to the children as early as possible could make a huge impact on a victim’s life. Especially if the training allows children and adults to recognize the grooming process that many predators use to prepare victims for the abuse. Current research suggests just teaching kids the signs of the grooming process and telling them to trust their gut feeling would prevent abuse from ever happening.

The bill was supported unanimously and signed into law on Tuesday.

Schools will have to begin the training in the 2018-19 school year. They will have access to free or low-cost age-appropriate materials to provide the training so it won’t impact their budgets. According to Lampert, the course could be taught in two 45 minute sessions.

In addition to the required training, Senate Bill 355 further clarified reporting procedures for abuse cases. Schools are not allowed to enact notification procedures for cases of sexual and physical abuse. Anyone that receives information from a child is required to report it directly to authorities. “In some cases, a teacher will hear about the abuse and it is school policy for them to refer the victim to the school counselor,” Lampert explained.

The student then recounts their story with the counselor and may have to tell the story again with the principal of the school before it goes to police. “They are telling their story numerous times over to people they did not choose to tell in the first place,” Lampert explained. “It’s traumatic for that child to have to tell their story over and over again.”

From Senator Messmer’s viewpoint, the bill was necessary to ensure the safety of the state’s 1.1 million children.

“I know from my experience with youth groups at church and scouting, I have been required to have recertification on youth protection policies and awareness of child abuse,” he explained. “All of our kids have been required to view age appropriate material. Any person involved with these groups has to do this already. It’s not overbearing for the adults and it’s not hard on the kids.”

Messmer took the training to the Indiana Department of Education as he was researching the bill to see if there would be a problem with making it mandatory. “The new superintendent (Dr. Jennifer McCormick) said ‘No, I don’t know why it’s not mandatory already,'” Messmer said.

“The fact he (Sen. Messmer) cared enough to move forward and do all that work says a lot about him as a person,” said Lampert.

“This may seem like a small step for you, but this is a giant leap and a great day for Indiana,” Governor Holcomb was quoted as telling one child abuse survivor at the signing.