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BC-CLERGY-ABUSE-REPORTING:SH — national (1850 words)

Clergy child abuse reporting laws uneven, leave loopholes

TNS NEWSFEATURES (EDITORS: Credit Stateline.org.)

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Stateline.org

(TNS)

WASHINGTON — When a Virginia 16-year-old told her parents that their church’s youth leader, Jordan Baird, had been sending her sexually suggestive text messages, they immediately confronted their pastor.

Pastor David Baird, the perpetrator’s father, said the church would investigate, but he did not tell law enforcement authorities — and he wasn’t required under Virginia law to report a suspected case of abuse or face criminal charges. The abuse became physical, and later other girls accused Jordan Baird of assaulting them.

Jordan Baird served eight months in prison after being...