Child Protection Policy

Indiana Law requires that any individual who has reason to believe that a minor is a victim of abuse or neglect must report immediately to:

• Department of Child Services: 800-800-5556
• Adult Protective Services: 800-992-6978 or
• Local Law Enforcement

It is a criminal offense not to make such a report. The reporting person is given immunity for making the report.
Child abuse under the law includes the following, among other situations:

• Failure by a parent, guardian or custodian to provide a minor necessary food, shelter or medical care so as to cause his/her physical or mental condition to be seriously impaired;
• Physical injury by a parent, guardian or custodian, endangering the minor’s physical or mental health;
• Where the minor is a victim of a sex offense committed by any person (i.e., sexual abuse); and/or,
• Allowing a minor to endanger his/her own health or the health of another.

In addition, it is important to note that the incident reporting threshold is good-faith suspicion. The person with the most firsthand knowledge of the suspected abuse is the one who is to report the incident, making sure that the appropriate staff of diocesan associated entities are made aware of the situation.

The reporting law applies to all persons without exception.

The Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana (hereafter, the Diocese) established policies and procedures on October 25, 1989, to assure the protection of minors entrusted to our care and to fulfill the mission and ministry of the Church. They have been revised on an ongoing basis and what is contained herein is written in the same spirit. These policies and procedures are formulated to be fair and responsive to the pastoral needs of all those they address. Their purpose is to facilitate cooperation with civil and diocesan authorities responsible for investigating allegations of sexual misconduct, with due care for the good name of all the alleged victims or accused. (Essential Norms #13)

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The offense of sexual abuse of a minor will be understood in accord with the provisions of Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela (SST), article 6, as modified by the Circular Letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dated May 3, 2011, which provides that the more grave delicts against morals which are reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are:

1° the delict against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue committed by a cleric with a minor below the age of eighteen years;

2° the acquisition, possession, or distribution by a cleric of pornographic images of minors under the age of eighteen, for purposes of sexual gratification, by whatever means or using whatever technology;

A priest or deacon who commits the delicts mentioned above is to be punished according to the gravity of his crime, not excluding dismissal or deposition.

The Review Board shall be appointed by the Diocesan Bishop and consist of five or seven members of outstanding integrity and good judgment. A majority of the members shall be lay Catholics, in full communion with the Church, who are not employees of the Diocese. One member shall be a priest who is an experienced and respected pastor of the Diocese. Emphasis shall be placed on selecting members with backgrounds/experience as one or more of the following: psychiatrist, a psychologist, licensed counselor or licensed social worker, attorney, or law enforcement investigator. At least one of the members should have particular expertise in the treatment of the sexual abuse of minors (Cf. USCCB Charter, art. 2, and USCCB Essential Norms, #5).

The Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana is committed to clear and well-publicized standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries for Church personnel (employees and volunteers) in positions of trust who have regular contact with minor children. A minor is defined as a person who has not yet reached his/her eighteenth (18th) birthday, (canon 97 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law)

Sexual abuse of a minor includes sexual molestation or sexual exploitation and other behavior by which an adult uses a minor as an object of sexual gratification. The transgressions in question relate to obligations arising from divine commands regarding human sexual interaction as conveyed by the sixth commandment of the Decalogue. The norm to be considered in assessing an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor is whether conduct or interaction with a minor qualifies as an external, objectively grave violation of the sixth commandment.Care will always be taken to protect the rights of all parties involved, particularly those of the person claiming to have been sexually abused and of the person against whom the charge has been made. When an accusation has proved to be unfounded, every step possible will be taken to restore the good name of the accused individual.

With the explosion of technology use among minors as well as adults, the following guidelines serve to clarify safe measures in communications between any adult having contact with minors within our Diocese and between minors and youth ministers and teachers. 

• Communication with minors must always be public, transparent and never in a form that could be construed or viewed as secretive or private.
• Parents or legal guardians must be informed of the different electronic methods to be utilized for communication purposes with minors by employees and volunteers of the Church organization.
• All communications should be minimal and only used to exchange needed information. Parents should be copied on all messages. And all messages should be Church/organization related.
• Adults should maintain separate social networking accounts for professional/Church organizations and personal communications.
• Avoid any communication which might be construed as having sexual overtones. DO NOT REPLY to any such messaging received from minors; instead make and keep a copy of any such inappropriate communication and notify an administrator/pastor or supervisor immediately.

 
*Note: For more information on The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the Essential Norms, go to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website, www.usccb.org, under Issues and Actions, Child and Youth Protection.