Lawmakers push bill to teach students how to prevent sexual abuse

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For eight years, Dyer was ad litem guardian of a boy named Tony, who had been assaulted by relatives and then treated by a pedophile, she told the committee. After growing old outside the foster care system, he went to prison related to his drug addiction, which Dyer attributed to the trauma of his repeated abuse.

At 34, Tony left a treatment program a few days after Dyer’s last visit.

“Shortly after, Dayton Police found him dead behind a car wash with a needle in his arm,” she said.

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House Bill 105 is Ohio’s latest version of “Erin’s Law,” named after author and activist Erin Merryn. Merryn, now spokesperson for the National Children’s Alliance, was sexually assaulted for six years as a child; as an adult, she advocates for schools to teach children about body safety in order to prevent sexual abuse.

Passed in the home state of Merryn, Illinois, in 2010, Erin’s Law has been passed in one form or another by 37 states.

The latest attempt here is sponsored by State Representatives Scott Lipps, R-Franklin, and Brigid Kelly, D-Cincinnati. The bill is co-sponsored by state officials Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton; Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield; Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield; Andrea White, R-Kettering; and Tom Young R-Washington Twp.

Donors introduced the HB 105 in February. It passed House 86-8 in June.

Opposition and perspectives

No one has spoken openly to oppose HB 105. But there is a setback, as previous attempts have been encountered, Lipps said.

“Opponents of this bill continue to be far right,” he said.

Groups such as the Center for Christian Virtue see the proposal as an attempt to introduce more sex education into the curriculum, Lipps said. But it would really teach kindergarten to grade 6 kids to recognize and report “bad touch” and older students to avoid sexual violence, he said.

“This is not pioneering legislation,” Lipps said. “We’re not trying to recreate the wheel here.”

The Center for Christian Virtue, formerly Citizens For Community Values, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

There are other sticking points, Kelly said.

“Part of the feedback we hear from people is about the people teaching the curriculum, and a bit of parental opt-out, which we’re not interested in,” she said.

In some cases, the parent who might refuse a lesson for a child is the abuser, Kelly said.

“Children need this program because they need to be able to identify a situation where something is wrong,” she said.

If supporters can clarify the message, the bill has a good chance of being passed this time around, Lipps said. He said it was encouraging that committee chair Senator Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, promptly summoned him for hearings.

Specificities and motivation

The bill would require schools to provide age-appropriate education in child sexual abuse prevention for grades K-6 each year, and age-appropriate education in child sexual abuse prevention. sexual violence for grades 7-12. Parents or guardians would be informed of the planned lesson and allowed to inspect the teaching materials upon request.

The state’s Department of Education would provide links on its website to help schools develop their programs.

Schools should include training on recognizing and reporting child sexual abuse as part of their required continuing education for teachers and other professionals. Instructions on preventing abuse should include information on counseling and resources for child victims of sexual abuse.

The Ohio Education Association, which represents more than 121,000 teachers and other education professionals in the state, remains cautious about HB 105 as a sensitive topic, said director of government relations Steve Dyer.

“We are officially monitoring him,” he said. “We didn’t take a position one way or another.

One of the main drivers of Lipps’ sponsorship was a Springboro abuse case, he said. Former Clearcreek Elementary School gym teacher John Austin Hopkins was convicted in 2020 of 34 counts of coarse sex imposition involving 27 freshman girls in the 2018-19 school year . He was accused of acting inappropriately with 88 students.

Legend

John Austin Hopkins / Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Hopkins was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Such cases show the need for the education offered by HB 105, Kelly said.

“You know, you wonder if those 88 kids could have been an only child, or no child, because they could have recognized that something was wrong,” she said.

Survivors, experts testify

A succession of witnesses told committee members of years of sexual harassment or abuse in person, while others submitted written testimony. They said no one had ever spoken to them about how to recognize or report sexual abuse. Embarrassed and ashamed, they didn’t know who they could tell.

Michelle Carpenter, CEO of Haven of Hope Victims’ Advocacy Center in Cambridge, said she has been raising awareness in school health classes for more than 20 years. Often, children don’t know what constitutes sexual assault until grade seven or eight, she told the committee.

Access to the internet and social media has greatly expanded the possibilities of attracting children, so they need to be armed against this from the start, she said.

All children are vulnerable to sexual abuse and 93% of victims know their abuser, said Jaclyn Scanlan, school mental health therapist for Catalyst Counseling in West Chester.

Victims as young as 10 have attempted suicide because of “guilt and shame,” she told committee members.

Teaching about sexual abuse in schools is the best way to reach the most children, Scanlan said. Students go through fire drills and active shooting drills, but they are more likely to be sexually abused than either of those threats, she said.

In today’s classrooms, there are children who, without intervention, would become sex offenders themselves, Scanlan said. But teaching them empathy, physical boundaries and consent could prevent that, she said.


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