In response to Thursday's story on Minnesota's confusing mandated reporter law, Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, has proposed making all people in the state legally responsible for reporting incidents of child abuse or neglect. Currently, state statute specifies several professionals such as teachers and day-care workers who are legally required to report abuse cases. But the statute leaves open to interpretation whether certain volunteers and coaches are mandated reporters. A top attorney with the Minnesota Judicial Branch said Wednesday that she believes all youth sports coaches are mandated reporters, for example, while other law enforcement officials and advocates disagreed. "The current law is ambiguous at best and contains dangerous loopholes at worst," Winkler said in a press release. "There is no more heinous crime than robbing the innocence of a young child. We need to ensure that this law is clear and fulfilling its purpose of protecting children." The distinction of being a mandated reporter means that someone could face misdemeanor charges (and felony charges in limited circumstances) for failing to report incidents in which adults are abusing children in their care. All reporters, mandated or voluntary, are afforded protection from retaliation for notifying authorities of legitimate concerns. That would not extend to people trying to harass others by making up false of abuse, though. According to the press release:

Thursday's story was about how state law applies to coaches in youth sports clubs, but leaders of other non-profit organizations are now wondering about their requirements as well. Leaders of the Northern Star Council of the Boy Scouts of America contacted the Minnesota Department of Human Services today, hoping to learn whether their volunteer scout leaders are mandated reporters. They had been told by county child welfare officials that their volunteers were not mandated reporters, but the state attorney's legal interpretation would suggest otherwise.