FOX 40 Sacramento Stockton Modesto
Proposed California Bill Mandates Priests Report Sexual Abuse Heard in Confession
POSTED 9:37 PM, APRIL 3, 2019, BY JOE KHALIL, UPDATED AT 09:35PM, APRIL 3, 2019
SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers are hoping to reverse hundreds of years of tradition in the Catholic church and mandate that priests who hear of child sexual abuses in confession report it to law enforcement.
"The victims are told to be quiet, abusers are let go, free. Nothing happens to them and the cycle repeats and repeats," said Kameron Torres.
It was just two years ago Torres, as he puts it, woke up to the brainwashing of being a Jehovah's Witness. He says at 6 years old he was sexually abused by a person of authority within the church and that nothing was done about it.
"You go to meetup groups, that’s what happened to me, and I started hearing the same stories," Torres told FOX40. "I realized very quickly it wasn't just me."
Torres says abuses happen in many religious denominations and too often the abuser gets away with it. He’s now helping lawmakers push Senate Bill 360 to end the silence around abuse.
"SB 360 requires clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect," said Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo.
The question many have now is does the bill go too far?
READ MORE AND WATCH VIDEO: https://fox40.com/2019/04/03/proposed-california-bill-mandates-priests-report-sexual-abuse-heard-in-confession/?fbclid=IwAR0iBx6zO1AfL8_bqakYkN9WHj_wbVBMEicGBFvJEF6waNPaf3efpBBoDks