BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — The town board has passed a resolution supporting the Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act.

The Act, under consideration by the State Senate as NYS Senate Bill 3158, seeks to amend Social Services Law to require clergy and religious institutions to be mandated reporters of child abuse situations it discovers in its community.

The resolution passed by town board members at their meeting Aug. 8 states:

“… the Board of the Town of Potsdam would like to ensure the safety of all residents in the Town by ensuring the community surrounding and supporting potential victims understand the law and responsibilities associated with individuals who hold titles included in the legislation…”

Those critical of the CARE Act say it would violate First Amendment rights.

A local group, CFCtoo, has been actively lobbying county legislators to also support the CARE Act. CFCtoo provides advocacy and support for abuse survivors who have left the Christian Fellowship Center, a large Christian revival style church with several branches in various Northern New York communities.

The Christian Fellowship Center has been in the crosshairs of the CFCtoo organization after controversy arose for how church leaders handled child sexual abuse allegations occurring within its congregation.

The incident, which occurred in 2015, did not result in charges [first-degree sexual abuse and acting in a manner injurious to a child] for the perpetrator, Sean Ferguson, 43, who was a member of the church, until 2022. Church leaders had been made aware of the abuse allegations early on but did not report them to the authorities. Ferguson was eventually sentenced a year later to 6 months probation after taking a plea deal.