My Interview with Boz Tchvidjian (Part 4) - Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse

Boz addresses a crucial part of how the Church addresses child abuse: how it's reported.

A while back, I spoke at Liberty University convocation. While there, I had the privilege to sit down with my friend, Boz Tchividjian.

Boz is a prosecutor by background, specifically dealing with child sexual abuse cases. He has recently been engaged in advocacy for the protection of victims—first and foremost that there might not be victims. Second, he advocates that those who are victims might be heard and that the perpetrators might ultimately be prosecuted.

Sadly, this is an ongoing challenge in the life of the church. We are certainly all aware of the scandals within the Catholic Church. But increasingly people are asking questions about the Protestant and the Evangelical world. I've blogged on such abuse situations on several occasions—see here, here, and here.

For this reason, I felt that an interview with Boz would be worth our time. Here are the other parts of our interview run previously.... Keep reading

Among the defects and weaknesses of the canons of the Anglican Church in North America is that they do not have special provisions for handling child abuse allegations. This not only puts children at high risk in ACNA churches and institutions but also makes the ACNA particularly vulnerable to scandal and litigation. ACNA churches and institutions can remedy this problem in two ways: they can develop and implement strong child safety plans at the church and institutional level and push for stronger child protection provisions in the diocesan and provincial canons. At all costs they should avoid developing an "It Can't Happen in the ACNA" mentality. Child abuse occurs in all socioeconomic groups. No group is immune.