LANSING, MI - The House Law and Justice Committee will not expand mandatory reporters to include sports coaches, chair Klint Kesto, R-Commerce Twp., announced Tuesday.

The issue came up in a slew of legislation inspired by the scandal surrounding ex-Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, who sexually abused hundreds of women and girls, often under the guise of providing medical treatment.

Women say they told athletic trainers and former MSU Gymnastics Coach Kathie Klages about the abuse, but those individuals did not report it. Right now they're not included as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect under Michigan law.

Kesto and the House Law and Justice Committee Minority Vice-Chair Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, hosted a roundtable to brief reporters on what legislation the committee planned to approve. One significant change was to House Bill 5659, which as introduced would have made coaches, assistant coaches and athletic trainers mandatory reporters of child abuse.

Instead, the committee will extend mandatory reporting requirements only to physical therapists and physical therapy assistants, Kesto said.

The danger of expanding mandatory reporting, Kesto and Chang said, was it could result in a flood of reports and investigators could miss the children who are truly being abused.

"The bad part is that in Pennsylvania they did this, they expanded who the mandatory reporters are, and there was a correlation with more childhood deaths as there were more people who were mandatory reporters," Kesto said.

"So what we did was make sure we have it to those professionals that are in contact with children to identify that abuse and neglect... that's why we only include physical therapists and physical therapist assistants."

Asked if coaches were with kids more than physical therapists would be, Kesto said "perhaps," but physical therapists have professional training. Physical therapists had asked to be included in the legislation, he said.

The problem, as Chang and Kesto presented it, is that the actuality of mandatory reporting is different than what the public might expect.

"Mandatory reporters under law are required to report child abuse, not necessarily sexual assault," Chang said.

What they have to report is defined in statute as abuse by a specific set of people: "a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare or by a teacher, a teacher's aide, or a member of the clergy."

Because of that, Kesto said, making coaches report would not prevent a situation like the one involving Nassar.

"If the coach were to notify someone they would notify (the Department of Health and Human Services) which would notify Child Protective Services. Child Protective Services is an agency making sure that that child is in a good, positive wellbeing at their own home and is not being neglected by their parents, that's the purpose of why the mandatory reporting is in this section, it has to do with that," Kesto said.

"So we have to look at a different avenue. It would not fit in this context and it wouldn't necessarily be productive."

The House plans to vote on a big package of Nassar-inspired bills, including the scaled-back one on mandatory reporter bills, Wednesday afternoon.

Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, who sponsored a mirror bill in the Senate that would require bus drivers, coaches and athletic trainers to be mandatory reporters, said the change was dissappointing.

"Obviously we feel it should be expanded beyond phsyical therapists. It's fair to consider full-time coaches or athletic trainers who all had learned about the abuse by Larry Nassar," she said.

Ultimately the change may not fly in the Senate, which would have to pass the bill too. Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has handled the legislation on the Senate side.

"When the bills get to my committee, they will be put back in. That is ridiculous. A paid, professional coach or trainer should have enough common sense and enough training to report a sexual assault on a teenager," Jones said.