A former Mount St. Mary Academy athletic director convicted of failing to report a child-maltreatment case lost her appeal Wednesday, leaving intact her year-long probation and a $2,500 fine.
Kathy Griffin, 57, who was convicted of "failure to notify by a mandated reporter," appealed her sentence, saying there was insufficient evidence that she failed to report a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student. Griffin also contended that the Pulaski County Circuit Court erred by limiting cross-examination of witnesses during the trial.
"We disagree intensely," her attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig said, referring to the opinion. "We plan to file a petition for review in the Arkansas Supreme Court."
She received the probationary sentence from a Pulaski County jury in September 2013, more than a year after the relationship between Kelly O'Rourke, the teacher, and the student, who was 18 at the time, came to light. The student told her parents on Feb. 24, 2012, that the relationship had started when she was 16.
Under Arkansas Code Annotated 12-18-201, mandated reporters -- including school officials, doctors, attorneys, social workers and other professionals -- are required to immediately notify authorities about suspected child abuse or maltreatment.
Griffin has admitted she was a mandated reporter, but she also has maintained that the statute she was convicted of violating didn't apply in her case because the student was an adult "when Griffin learned of the abuse."
Rosenzweig instead pointed to a different statute, Arkansas Code Annotated 12-18-306, for the case. That statute reads: "The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of sexual abuse, sexual contact, or sexual exploitation naming an adult as the victim only if: (1) the alleged offender is a caretaker of a child; and (2) the person making the report is one (1) of the following: (A) the adult victim; (B) a law enforcement officer; (C) the adult victim's counselor or therapist; (D) the alleged offender's counselor or therapist; or (E) the alleged offender."
According to court documents, the student's parents went to O'Rourke two days after the girl revealed the relationship and demanded the teacher resign. Griffin called the parents later that night, asking them to keep quiet "for the good of the school."
The parents held off for a week, but Griffin approached them again, asking to wait another week, court documents show. They agreed, and later disclosed to Griffin that they would seek counseling for the girl and that the counselor would be reporting the sexual relationship.
On March 11, 2012, Griffin anonymously called the Child Abuse Hotline to report the relationship and then told the school principal, who also made a report to the hotline.
Court of Appeals Judge Cliff Hoofman said in a court opinion Wednesday that the 12-18-201 statute "is plain and unambiguous and that the evidence in this case was sufficient to show that Griffin violated the statute by knowingly failing to report O'Rourke for more than two weeks after she had direct knowledge of the maltreatment."
The statute, he added, is written in past tense to include a child who "has been subjected" to child maltreatment.
"Furthermore, while Griffin contends that it would be an absurd result if the statute were interpreted to require mandated reporters to make a hotline report where the victim is now an adult, as the alleged conduct may have taken place 'decades in the past,' the State correctly notes that the purpose of the Child Maltreatment Act is not only to protect a maltreated child, but also to protect 'any other child under the same care who may also be in danger of maltreatment,'" he wrote.
Rosenzweig also argued that he did not get to present "exculpatory evidence" and limited his ability to cross-examine witnesses during trial. Specifically, he pointed to parts of the recorded hotline calls, along with statements from hotline employees, that he said would have showed that the hotline couldn't accept the report if the victim is an adult.
Before the trial, the parties had agreed not to bring up a Catholic diocese policy on sexual abuse of minors, which stated that allegations of sexual assault on victims who were children but are now adults will be reported to the bishop.
But, academy principal Diane Wolfe brought up that policy during the trial, opening the door for further testimony on the matter. In cross-examination, Wolfe said that the school was governed by the Sisters of Mercy, not the diocese, and that she only used the diocese website as a "consultation."
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals judges said the hotline employees' responsibilities had nothing to do with whether Griffin violated the Child Maltreatment Act. Hoofman added that "Wolfe made it clear that she had only consulted the checklist on the Diocese website on March 11," and upheld the Circuit Court's decision that the policy, too, was irrelevant to the trial.
Metro on 02/05/2015