SAN ANTONIO — Did you know that everyone is required to report child abuse, even if you don't work with children? It's a Class A misdemeanor if you don't.
“Everybody in Texas is a mandatory reporter. Everybody, whether you work professionally with children or you pour concrete for a living,” said Carrie Wilcoxson, Owner of Child and Family Case Consultant/Advocate.
Wilcoxson is a former state child abuse investigator, and also helps draft child abuse laws.
April is National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. Wilcoxson says it's an opportunity to remind the community that child abuse exist, and the importance of reporting. It's also a crime if you don't.
“It's a class A misdemeanor if you are required to report and you have information, and you knowingly, knowingly failed to report,” said Wilcoxson.
The new standard of reporting is now reasonable cause to believe, if you suspect a child is being abused, neglected, or in imminent danger.
“Calibrating the system and the triage process, so that we are helping our state front liners, our investigators, to focus on the right cases,” said Wilcoxson.
As of September 2023, your now required to report anonymous child abuse reports to law enforcement, not Child Protective Services.
“When somebody attempts to do so, the department is required by law to inform that person that they're not authorized, and that they should be contacting law enforcement,” said Wilcoxson.
As an investigator Wilcoxson investigated child abuse deaths, and says statistics show people who usually know the most about the abuse, family and friends don't report it. In most cases, Wilcoxson says when a child dies of abuse, if the person had reported it within 24 to 48 hours, a child's life could have been saved.
“If somebody has a reasonable cause to believe, that a child is in imminent or immediate life threatening danger, do not report that to CPS, that type of case requires a 9-1-1 call immediately,” said Wilcoxson.