I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1973 

To prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes by requiring 

the prompt reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana (for herself, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, and Mr. 

GOODLATTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes 

by requiring the prompt reporting of sexual abuse to 

law enforcement authorities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Young Vic5 tims from Sexual Abuse Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRED REPORTING OF CHILD AND SEXUAL 

2 ABUSE AT FACILITIES UNDER THE JURISDIC3 TION OF AMATEUR SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS 

4 RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED STATES OLYM5 PIC COMMITTEE. 

6 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 226 of the 

7 Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13031) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘A person who’’ and insert11 ing the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) COVERED PROFESSIONALS.—A person 

13 who’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS AT COVERED FACILITIES.—A 

16 covered individual who, while engaged in any activity 

17 sanctioned by a covered facility, learns of facts that 

18 give reason to suspect that a child has suffered an 

19 incident of child abuse, including sexual abuse, shall 

20 as soon as possible make a report of the suspected 

21 abuse to the agency designated by the Attorney Gen22 eral under subsection (d).’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

24 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 

26 (3) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(9) the term ‘covered facility’ means a facility 

7 over which a national governing body has jurisdic8 tion; 

9 ‘‘(10) the term ‘covered individual’ means an 

10 adult who is authorized by a covered facility or by 

11 a national governing body to interact with a minor 

12 or amateur athlete at the covered facility or at any 

13 event sanctioned by the covered facility; and 

14 ‘‘(11) the term ‘national governing body’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 220501(b) of 

16 title 36, United States Code.’’; 

17 (4) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by 

18 inserting ‘‘and for all covered facilities’’ after ‘‘re19 side’’; 

20 (5) in subsection (f), in the first sentence— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘and on all’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘on all’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘and for all covered facili24 ties,’’ after ‘‘lands,’’; and 


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1 (6) in subsection (h), by inserting ‘‘and all cov2 ered individuals,’’ after ‘‘facilities,’’. 

3 (b) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO REPORT.—Section 

4 2258 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by in5 serting ‘‘or while engaged in a professional capacity or ac6 tivity at a covered facility as described in subsection (a)(2) 

7 of such section 226’’ after ‘‘facility’’. 

8 SEC. 3. CIVIL REMEDY FOR PERSONAL INJURIES. 

9 Section 2255 of title 18, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who, while a minor, 

14 was a victim of a violation of section 1589, 1590, 1591, 

15 2241(c), 2242, 2243, 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2260, 

16 2421, 2422, or 2423 of this title and who suffers personal 

17 injury as a result of such violation, regardless of whether 

18 the injury occurred while such person was a minor, may 

19 sue in any appropriate United States District Court and 

20 shall recover the actual damages such person sustains or 

21 liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000, and the 

22 cost of the action, including reasonable attorney’s fees and 

23 other litigation costs reasonably incurred. The court may 

24 also award punitive damages and such other preliminary 


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1 and equitable relief as the court determines to be appro2 priate.’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘filed within’’ 

4 and all that follows through the end and inserting 

5 the following: ‘‘file— 

6 ‘‘(1) not later than 10 years after the date on 

7 which the plaintiff discovers the later of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the violation that forms the basis for 

9 the claim; or 

10 ‘‘(B) the injury that forms the basis for 

11 the claim; or 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of a person under a legal dis13 ability, not later than 10 years after the date on 

14 which the disability ends.’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) VENUE.—Any action brought under sub18 section (a) may be brought in the district court of 

19 the United States that meets applicable require20 ments relating to venue under section 1391 of title 

21 28. 

22 ‘‘(2) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

23 brought under subsection (a), process may be served 

24 in any district in which the defendant— 

25 ‘‘(A) is an inhabitant; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) may be found.’’. 

2 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF AMA3 TEUR SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS RECOGNIZED 

4 BY THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COM5 MITTEE TO PREVENT THE ABUSE OF MINOR 

6 AND AMATEUR ATHLETES. 

7 (a) EXPANSION OF AUTHORITIES.—Section 

8 220523(a) of title 36, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

10 inserting a semicolon; 

11 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and 

12 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(8) develop training, oversight practices, poli15 cies, and procedures to prevent the abuse, including 

16 physical abuse and sexual abuse, of any minor or 

17 amateur athlete by any adult.’’. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—Section 220524 of such 

19 title is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

21 inserting a semicolon; 

22 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 

23 inserting a semicolon; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(10) develop and enforce policies, mechanisms, 

2 and procedures to prevent the abuse, including phys3 ical abuse and sexual abuse, of any minor or ama4 teur athlete, including— 

5 ‘‘(A) requiring all members of the national 

6 governing body or a facility under the jurisdic7 tion of the national governing body and adults 

8 authorized by such members to interact with 

9 minor or amateur athletes, to immediately re10 port all allegations of sexual abuse to law en11 forcement authorities and other appropriate au12 thorities whenever such members or adults 

13 learn of facts leading them to reasonably sus14 pect that a minor or amateur athlete has suf15 fered an incident of sexual abuse; 

16 ‘‘(B) establishing a mechanism, approved 

17 by a trained expert on child abuse, that allows 

18 a complainant to easily report an incident of 

19 sexual abuse committed by a member or adult 

20 described in subparagraph (A) to interact with 

21 a minor or amateur athlete, to the national gov22 erning body or another authority; 

23 ‘‘(C) procedures to ensure that each ama24 teur athlete who is a minor is prevented from 

25 being in a one-on-one situation with an adult 


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1 (who is not the minor’s legal guardian) at a fa2 cility under the jurisdiction of the national gov3 erning body without being in an observable and 

4 interruptible distance from another adult; and 

5 ‘‘(D) oversight procedures, including reg6 ular and random audits conducted by subject 

7 matter experts unaffiliated with the national 

8 governing body, of all members and adults de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) to ensure that poli10 cies and procedures developed under this para11 graph are followed correctly and that consistent 

12 training is offered and given to all members re13 garding prevention of sexual abuse; and 

14 ‘‘(11) in the case of a national governing body 

15 with jurisdiction over more than one athletic facility, 

16 establish a mechanism by which— 

17 ‘‘(A) the national governing body can— 

18 ‘‘(i) receive a report from one of such 

19 facilities regarding a case in which an 

20 adult authorized by the facility to interact 

21 with a minor or amateur athlete at such 

22 facility is expelled from or leaves such fa23 cility for sexual misconduct, including be24 cause of a mere allegation of sexual mis25 conduct; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) share a report received under 

2 subparagraph (A) with each of the other 

3 athletic facilities under the jurisdiction of 

4 the national governing body; and 

5 ‘‘(B) an athletic facility under the jurisdic6 tion of the national governing body can— 

7 ‘‘(i) review the reports received by the 

8 national governing body under subpara9 graph (A)(i) to assess any allegations of 

10 sexual misconduct made in such reports; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) withhold providing to an adult 

13 who is the subject of an allegation of sex14 ual misconduct in a report reviewed under 

15 clause (i) authority to interact with a 

16 minor or amateur athlete at such facility 

17 until such time as the facility determines 

18 that there is no risk to a minor or amateur 

19 athlete at such facility.’’. 

20 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 220522 of 

21 such title is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in para23 graph (a) shall be construed to limit the ability of a na24 tional governing body to develop a policy or procedure to 

25 prevent an individual who is the subject of an allegation 


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1 of sexual misconduct from interacting with a minor or 

2 amateur athlete until such time as the national governing 

3 body, or any person under the jurisdiction of the national 

4 governing body, determines that there is no risk to the 

5 minor or amateur athlete by allowing the individual to 

6 interact with the minor or amateur athlete.’’. 

Æ 


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