It has been reported that Stephen Collins has admitted to molesting children and told a therapist what he had done.
After doing a quick search it seems to me that he should have been reported when he brought this up.
Is there a reason that this would not be reported? Are there situations where the mandate does not apply?
Will the therapist face any repercussions if he did not report the molestation?
I’m sure it varies state by state, but I don’t know by how much.
If you are an immediate threat to yourself or others they report that. I was under the impression that was about it.
Issues like posing a potential threat to children or the elderly, I don’t know. I also don’t know about past crimes where the statute of limitations is expired. If a 70 year old man admits to molesting a 5 year old when he was 12 (58 years ago), does that get reported? I don’t know.
The articles I saw about this didn’t mention anything about his therapist not reporting the admissions. TMZ claims to have a tape recording, but they don’t say where it came from, only that his wife did tape him in the session on the advice of her lawyer. Do you have something that says the therapist did not report this?
ETA: Rereading your OP I don’t see you saying it wasn’t reported. Looks we’ll hear a lot more about this though.
I believe there was already an investigation into Collins behavior (which is what spurned the counseling sessions and divorce), so I’m not sure the counsellor would need to report a crime the cops were already aware of.
It varies a lot from state to state , and it’s not necessarily all that easy to figure out what is required unless you have actually taken training intended for mandatory reporters in that state . For example, in some places a mandatory reporter is only mandated if a child comes before them in a professional capacity. In others, they are mandated when either the child or the perpetrator comes before them in a professional capacity. In some, any perpetrator results in a mandatory report while in others only abuse or neglect perpetrated by a parent ,parental substitute or other person regularly in the household gets reported. In some states it is very clear that the purpose of the mandatory reporting laws is to protect children rather than to punish perpetrators and therefore reports are not accepted regarding incidents in the past where there is no current danger (for example, the abuser was a former stepfather with whom the child has no contact) or where the child has since turned 18. In some states the mandatory report is made to law enforcement while in others it is made to a child protective agency (CPS).
From what I’ve read about this case, Collins admitted in 2012 to molesting an 11 year old relative of his first wife. They were apparently divorced in 1978 so presumably the molestation happened prior to that date. There’s no indication that Collins was a parental substitute or a regular part of the girls household. If the therapy session happened in NY, the therapist would **not **have been obliged to report it. In fact , the NY child abuse registry would not have accepted the report if the therapist tried to report it because by 2012 there was no child to protect- the abuse happened decades ago.
So why is NYPD investigating? Because in most states, there is a difference between what must be reported to child protective services and what can be reported to the police.
Although I’m not at all sure how accurate that website is (since it isn’t anything official, just something written by one psychologist) it does mention the intent of the California law
which suggests that in the writer’s view the therapist was not mandated to report under California law
I may be misunderstanding what has happened here … but was’t it that Collins’ wife surreptitiously recorded the session(s) without either Stephen Collins’ or the counslor’s knowledge. And that the wife’s tape is what TMZ is in posession of.
Just as an additional point of information, Faye Grant (Collins’ wife) is now saying that she did turn the tape over to the authorities in 2012, and that she had nothing to do with its release to TMZ.
I think you mean spurred.
Yeah, it was the wife, not the therapist, is my understanding.
Whether the therapist knew the session was being taped or not might have some bearing.
Between spousal privilege, medical privilege, and wiretapping laws, is that tape admissible in any way?
I suppose a prosecutor would argue that since there was a third party (the therapist) there, the spousal privilege doesn’t apply, and since there was a third party (the wife) there, the medical privilege doesn’t apply, but that seems, well, heading towards the definition of chutzpah.
California recognizes both the marital testimonial privilege (you don’t have to testify against your current spouse about any matter) and the confidential marital communications privilege (you may not testify against a present or former spouse regarding confidential communications made during the marriage) but neither applies to anything you say in the presence of a third party - and certainly not to a recording.
However, a surreptitious recording does not defeat the psychotherapist-patient privilege, except to the extent that the privilege does not apply if the patient’s “mental or emotional condition [is such that he may be] dangerous to himself or to the person or property of another and that disclosure of the communication is necessary to prevent the threatened danger.”
Could under federal or state law the therapist sue the wife a/ for personal intrusion in recording the therapist without assent and b/ for recording a private therapy session ?
Both of which will have hugely bad effects on the therapist’s reputation and future business.
Priests might find their salving business dropping off amazingly if the authorities were allowed to surreptitiously bug the confessional.
It’s a federal crime, but there is no corresponding private cause of action I’m aware of. It’s also a crime in California and there is also a private cause of action.
ETA: Those laws are not specific to recording private therapy sessions. It’s a crime because it’s interception of private oral communication generally. The therapist might also have some sort of action for tortious interference in a business relationship.
Did we ever determine if the therapist knew? Perhaps the wife and therapist were working together to get the confession on tape.
I recorded my therapy sessions for my own purposes, but my therapist knew all about it. (And I was so incredibly glad I did, since she turned out to be suffering from a raging narcissistic personality disorder and is sicker than sick and violates confidentiality like it’s nothing… and I have it all on tape. I might have lost my mind dealing with it if I didn’t. That’s all years back, not an active situation…)
Ahem:
Emphasis added.
I’m not sure what you’re pointing out here. I said the marital privileges would not apply but the psychotherapist-patient would.