Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-615 (2026)
Violations - Penalties
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a)
- (1) Any person required to report known or suspected child sexual abuse who knowingly fails to do so, or who knowingly prevents another person from doing so, commits an offense.
- (2)
- (A) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor.
- (B) A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class E felony.
- (3) Any person required to report known or suspected child sexual abuse who intentionally fails to do so, or who intentionally prevents another person from doing so, commits a Class E felony.
- (b) Any person who knowingly and willfully makes public or discloses any confidential information contained in the abuse registry or in the records of any child sexual abuse case, except as provided in this part, commits a Class A misdemeanor.
Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 499,s 4, eff. 7/1/2019.
Acts 1985, ch. 478, § 16; 1989, ch. 591, § 111.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2005–2021 · leading case: Sharon Marcel Keisling v. Daniel Kerry Keisling v. Francisco (Frank) Huberto Guzman & wife, Billie Ann Guzman (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005).
Sharon Marcel Keisling v. Daniel Kerry Keisling v. Francisco (Frank) Huberto Guzman & wife, Billie Ann Guzman (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “T.C.A § 37-1-615(a) (2001). Accusations of child sexual abuse by one parent against the other parent presents one of the most difficult issues faced by a trial court.”
Werner v. Young (E.D. Tenn. 2021). “§ 37-1-615(a). Even assuming that the reporting statute created a duty, that Defendants Tammy Young, Chris Young, and the Academy breached that duty, and that a breach of the reporting statute amounts to negligence per se, Werner has not pleaded facts showing that Defendants’…”
State of Tennessee v. Michelle Lee Raines (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “§ 37-1-615. The offenses involved acts committed against four children, three of whom lived in their household, by the defendant’s stepson, who was also a minor at the time of the offenses.”
Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-615(a): 2 cases
Sharon Marcel Keisling v. Daniel Kerry Keisling v. Francisco (Frank) Huberto Guzman & wife, Billie Ann Guzman (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “T.C.A § 37-1-615(a) (2001). Accusations of child sexual abuse by one parent against the other parent presents one of the most difficult issues faced by a trial court.”
Werner v. Young (E.D. Tenn. 2021). “§ 37-1-615(a). Even assuming that the reporting statute created a duty, that Defendants Tammy Young, Chris Young, and the Academy breached that duty, and that a breach of the reporting statute amounts to negligence per se, Werner has not pleaded facts showing that Defendants’…”
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