(18) "Member of the clergy" means any regularly licensed,
accredited, or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder, or
similarly situated religious or spiritual leader of any church,
religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community, or sect,
or person performing official duties that are recognized as the
duties of a member of the clergy under the discipline, tenets,
doctrine, or custom of the person's church, religious denomination,
religious body, spiritual community, or sect, whether acting in an
individual capacity or as an employee, agent, or official of any
public or private organization or institution.
>(a) When any member of the clergy, practitioner, county
coroner or medical examiner, law enforcement officer, professiona
school personnel, registered or licensed nurse, social service
counselor, psychologist, pharmacist, employee of the department of
children, youth, and families, licensed or certified child care
providers or their employees, employee of the department of social
and health services, juvenile probation officer, diversion unit
staff, placement and liaison specialist, responsible living skills
program staff, HOPE center staff, state family and children's ombuds
or any volunteer in the ombuds' office, or host home program has
reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or
neglect, he or she shall report such incident, or cause a report to
be made, to the proper law enforcement agency or to the department as
provided
>(b) When any person, in his or her official supervisory capacity
with a nonprofit or for-profit organization, has reasonable cause to
believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect caused by a person
over whom he or she regularly exercises supervisory authority, he or
she shall report such incident, or cause a report to be made, to the
proper law enforcement agency, provided that the person alleged to
have caused the abuse or neglect is employed by, contracted by, or
volunteers with the organization and coaches, trains, educates, or
counsels a child or children or regularly has unsupervised access to
a child or children as part of the employment, contract, or voluntary
service.
Doesn't really matter, the legally pertinent question is if a new religion were to form tomorrow, would its clergy also be bound by this law, and the answer seems to be yes.
