Child Sex Counseling Law Blocked : Court Stays Measure Requiring Doctors to Notify Police

A state appeals court Friday blocked implementation of a law that required doctors to notify law enforcement officials whenever a child under 14 years of age sought counseling about sex.

The stay means doctors can maintain confidentiality when youths seek advice about birth control, venereal disease and pregnancy or abortion after willingly engaging in consensual sex with a peer.

But the order signed by Court of Appeal Justice Harry W. Low emphasized that doctors must still report cases where there is a “reasonable suspicion of actual sexual abuse.”

The order, affecting the entire state, will remain in force until the attorney general’s office responds and the case is argued. No date was set for the argument.

Planned Parenthood, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the action earlier this week, claiming the reporting requirement violated the privacy rights of youths 14 and younger.

A Central Registry

Doctors and counselors who failed to report sex counseling to police or child welfare agencies faced misdemeanor charges. Once a report was made, police were required to investigate. The investigation reports were to be compiled in a central registry kept by the state to track child-abuse cases, the ACLU charged.

“These circumstances present a manifest compelling need for a temporary stay of statewide effect,” the three-judge panel said in the two-page order.

The law, passed by the Legislature in 1981, was aimed at preventing sexual abuse of children. Its broader implications became apparent in April, when the state Department of Social Services sent memos to all counties announcing that the reporting requirement extended to youths who sought advice after engaging in consensual sex.

In seeking the emergency stay, the ACLU attorneys argued that the situation was urgent because of the start of school. The lawyers said once youths were reunited in classrooms, they would begin to hear about the new reporting requirements, prompting those who are sexually active or are considering having sex to forgo counseling.