In Matthews v. Harris, published January 9, 2017, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 2 affirmed the dismissal on demurrer of a lawsuit that facially attacked provisions of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act. The provisions attacked require therapists and counselors to law enforcement or child welfare agencies patients who disclose they have developed, downloaded, streamed or accessed child pornography. The plaintiffs, mandated reporters under CANRA, asserted that CANRA violated their patients' right to privacy under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, ยง 21 of the California Constitution. The appellate court ruled that the plaintiffs' patients have no legally protected privacy interest in disclosing that they had accessed child pornography, a crime. Under the law, the therapist-patient privilege does not apply to disclosure of such information. And the state's countervailing interest in discovering and protecting sexually exploited children justifies any invasion into the patients' privacy on this subject.
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