Kimberly S. M. v. Bradford Central School

In Kimberly S. M. v. Bradford Central School, 226 A.D.2d 85, 649 N.Y.S.2d 588, a sixth grade girl told a teacher that when she went to visit an aunt and uncle in New Jersey every summer, the uncle sexually abused her. The teacher did not report. The Appellate Division found no common law duty to report, since the reported acts were beyond the supervisory responsibility of the school. But, the Appellate Division reinstated the cause of action for statutory duty to report after the action had been dismissed on defendant's Summary Judgment motion. The Court reasoned that a mandated reporter is obligated to report suspected cases of child sexual abuse based upon facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the reporter at the time the abuse is suspected and may be held liable for a breach of that duty even though it may ultimately be determined that the abuse was not committed or allowed to have been committed by a person legally responsible for the child. Thus, the court concluded, there were issues of fact rendering summary judgment inappropriate given what was known by the teacher at the time of the reported abuse since the uncle could have been a custodian or a person responsible for the child's care at the relevant time.