A state senator has proposed a bill that would make it mandatory to report child abuse to a law enforcement agency.

Current law requires teachers, doctors, nurses and counselors to report suspected abuse.

Sponsor Sen. Renee Unterman says her bill would expand the category of mandatory reporters.

Unterman says it’s the right time to introduce the bill, given the scandal surrounding the former Pennsylvania State University coach accused of sexually assaulting a minor in a locker room.

The Buford Republican says 16 other states have mandatory reporting laws such as this one.

“And if Pennsylvania had this, and you saw a child being abuse in a shower, and you had to report it and you knew you had to report it, that it could have saved that child at that time,” she said.

The bill would require them to report the event within 36 hours of their first suspicion.

Tags: child abuse, mandatory reporting, Penn State sex abuse scandal