Child sex abuse prevention advocates worried about proposed Ohio parental notification bill
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2025 7:15 pm
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/ ... tion-bill/
Ohio violence prevention advocates worry that teens who have been sexually abused would have to get parental consent to get emergency and temporary mental health services under proposed legislation.
Some of the most heinous crimes have the most vulnerable victims.
“I’ve responded to child sexual abuse victims at 2 a.m. in the hospital,” said Emily Gemar, with the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence. “I’ve held their hand throughout the night.”
Thousands of kids in Ohio are sexually abused per year, she said. State data shows the majority of all reported sexual assaults happened to children under 18.
But many cases go unreported, Gemar said.
“It takes some time to build trust with that counselor, that mental health provider, to allow for a setting where somebody feels like they can disclose what’s happened to them,” she said.
And she was thrilled when Gov. Mike DeWine expanded his crisis mental health program. When a child calls the 9-8-8 hotline, they get emergency access to support — free of charge.
The program also lets teens 14 and older get temporary help, including six weeks of counseling, without consent from a parent or guardian.