The Roman Catholics have leapfrogged the JW's - note this from the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. (Bold and italics added by me.)
"Statement on the obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil
authorities:
Following recent press coverage the following statement was issued by
Cardinal O’Malley
From Vatican Radio – 15 February 2016
Statement from the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection
of Minors
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., president of the Pontifical Commission for the
Protection of Minors, together with all the Commission Members, issued today the
following statement on the obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil
authorities:
“As Pope Francis has so clearly stated: ‘The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of
children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the
Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all’. We, the
President and the Members of the Commission, wish to affirm that our obligations
under civil law must certainly be followed, but even beyond these civil requirements,
we all have a moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the civil
authorities who are charged with protecting our society”.
Cardinal O’Malley’s statement continued, “In the United States, our Bishops’ Charter
clearly states the obligation that all dioceses/eparchies and personnel report
suspected abuse to the public authorities.
Every year at our November meeting, at a
training session for new bishops, this obligation is reaffirmed, and every other
February the Conference runs a second training program for new bishops which also
clearly and explicitly includes this obligation. As the Holy Father’s advisory
commission for the protection of minors, we recently shared with Pope Francis an
overview of the Commission’s extensive education efforts in local Churches over the
past two years and reiterated the Members’ willingness to provide this material at
courses offered in Rome, including to the annual training program for new bishops
and to the offices of the Roman Curia for their use in their own child protection
efforts”.
