LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) panel has recommended church law be changed to require clergy and lay leaders to report child sex abuse claims to police.
The panel, which is investigating molestation claims against a missionary in Africa, proposed changing the denomination's Book of Order, or constitution, according to The Associated Press.
Church law should require church staff and volunteers to inform legal authorities of "any knowledge of physical abuse, neglect or harm, and of sexual molestation or abuse of a child or adult without mental capacity," according to the panel.
Any changes to the church constitution must be approved by the denomination's General Assembly and ratified by a majority of presbyteries, or regional legislatures. The General Assembly's next meeting is in late May.
In its 173-page report, the panel said it found "overwhelming" evidence that a missionary sexually abused at least 22 girls and women. Most of the 48 alleged incidents occurred at boarding schools or other places in the Congo between the 1940s and 1960s, according to the AP.
The inquiry stemmed from a 1998 complaint filed by several women against the Rev. William Pruitt. Pruitt, who died in 1999, denied the allegations. No formal charges were filed.
