The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. CANRA requires certain professionals, known as “mandated reporters,” to report whenever the mandated reporter, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Under existing law, a mandated reporter’s failure to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. Under existing law, prosecution of a misdemeanor for failure to report an incident known or reasonably suspected by the mandated reporter to be sexual assault may be filed at any time within five (5) years from the date of occurrence of the offense.
Under Assembly Bill 2274 (AB 2274), the timeframe for the prosecution of a failure to report a reasonably suspected sexual assault case remains within five (5) years from the date of occurrence of the offense, while the timeframe for the prosecution of failure to report any other child abuse or severe neglect to be within one year of the discovery of the offense, but in no case later than four (4) years after the commission of the offense.
(AB 2274 amends Section 801.6 of, and adds Section 801.8 to, the Penal Code.)