By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County prosecutors say the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's own legal documents show that church officials do not follow Ohio law when handling complaints of child abuse.

Prosecutor Mike Allen, whose office is investigating the archdiocese, said Thursday he intends to raise his concerns about church policy in court, possibly as early as today.

Mike Allen

He said legal briefs filed recently by church officials indicate that the archdiocese does not necessarily notify authorities of all cases of child abuse.

In one of the briefs, archdiocese lawyers state that abuse allegations against church employees "may require decisions about reporting to law enforcement."

Mr. Allen said that policy is flawed because state law allows for only one decision when it comes to child abuse complaints: They must be reported to authorities.

"They have an absolute legal obligation to report," Mr. Allen said. "If they even get a whiff that someone may have been sexually abused, they need to get on the phone with the police."

Church lawyers said prosecutors apparently misunderstood their legal brief. They say church policy complies with state law and church officials report all sexual abuse complaints involving children.

"If there is a situation regarding a minor involving sexual abuse, it gets reported," said church attorney Mark VanderLaan.

He said the archdiocese's policy, known as the Decree on Child Protection, covers complaints about a wide range of behavior, not just sexual abuse.

The behavior could include verbal abuse, inappropriate remarks or a complaint about someone spending too much time alone with a child. Because the policy covers so much ground, Mr. VanderLaan said it's necessary in each case to determine whether the behavior rises to the level of abuse and, therefore, requires a call to authorities.

"You have to determine what the complaint is in order to determine whether it needs to be reported," Mr. VanderLaan said.

The dispute over the archdiocese's reporting obligations first surfaced this spring when prosecutors began investigating abuse allegations involving four unidentified priests who remain employed by the church despite past accusations.

Since then, four other priests have taken leave or been suspended because of misconduct allegations.

Ohio law covering abuse disclosure requires anyone "acting in an official or professional" capacity to report suspected abuse. But the law has changed over the years and was not always so explicit about whether clergy were among those required to report.

Mr. Allen said the law is now clear, however, and the recent legal briefs filed by the archdiocese suggest that church officials are not following the rules.

"Here is the archdiocese saying in legal pleadings, `We don't have to report this,'" Mr. Allen said. "That's not true and it's in direct contravention of Ohio law."

The two sides have been arguing for months about how much information the church is obligated to turn over to authorities as they investigate the abuse allegations, many of which date back 10 years or more.

A grand jury was convened in July to hear evidence, but Mr. Allen has said the jury's work probably will not be complete until next spring.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com