Why report child abuse?
Reporting suspicions of child abuse is fraught with danger. Several years ago, my mother-in-law, a school teacher, reported to the county sheriff her conviction that several children from a particular family were being abused at home. Within two days, the mother in the family called and threatened her. Recently, a teacher in a school district south of here called and asked what she could do about a mother who was accusing her of committing all kinds of abominable crimes against her students. The teacher had reported to her principal that she had observed the mother abuse her child in the presence of the teacher. The principal called the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). The teacher wanted to know what UEA could do about the parent. Section 53A-6-502, Utah Code Annotated 1953, requires every educator “who has reasonable cause to believe that a student may have been physically or sexually abused by a school employee” to “immediately report the belief and all other relevant in
