LEWISTON — If Penn State had been located in Maine, the university’s former head football coach Joe Paterno and former school President Graham Spanier may have been legally bound to report the sexual abuse of a boy by an assistant football coach, say authorities familiar with Maine’s law.

According to media reports, neither man at the state school broke the law under Pennsylvania statutes. Both men were fired by the school’s Board of Trustees, but escaped further formal sanctions. Some factions in that state are pushing for legislative action that would change that.

In Maine, a list of mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect includes “teacher” and “school official.” Maine law says that people in those professions must “immediately report or cause a report to be made to the department (of Health and Human Services) when the person has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been or is likely to be abused or neglected.”

The statute goes on to say: “Whenever a person is required to report in a capacity as a member of the staff of a . . . public or private institution . . . that person immediately shall notify either the person in charge of the institution, agency or facility or a designated agent who then shall cause a report to be made.”

That means a coach who learns about suspected abuse must tell the head of the institution or a department head designated by the institution to handle such reports. The person who was told must file a report with the state or local prosecutor.

In addition to telling someone in greater authority at the institution, the person learning about the abuse may report directly to the state department, Maine’s law says.

If the alleged abuser was “a person not responsible for the child,” Maine law says the report must be made directly to the local district attorney’s office. A definition for “a person not responsible for the child” isn’t found in the statute.

In the Penn State case, the assistant coach accused of raping a boy in the locker room showers likely would not fit into the legal definition of “responsible,” therefore the abuse would have to be reported to the district attorney’s office.

Under Maine’s statute, there are 32 professions that are required to report or cause a report to be filed of child abuse or neglect.

In addition to those specified jobs, the statute includes as a mandated reporter, “any person who has assumed full, intermittent or occasional responsibility for the care or custody of the child, regardless of whether the person receives compensation.” It also has a section that refers to members of the clergy.

The penalty for a mandated reporter not reporting abuse is a fine up to $500.

Androscoggin County District Attorney Norm Croteau said his office often gets referrals of suspected abuse from the state Department of Health and Human Services and less frequently directly from mandated reporters or law enforcement agencies.

When DHHS refers a case to his office, Croteau said he would, in turn, refer that case to the appropriate law enforcement agency for investigation.

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