FAQ: Must a hospital or health care provider report the rape or rape crisis treatment of a minor to the police?

No. Health care providers may not report crimes-including rape and "statutory rape"-committed against their patients to the police, with one exception: when the patient sustained a gunshot or serious stab wound, such injury must be reported to the police, although the provider or facility should not report the circumstances surrounding how the injuries were incurred. [24] Reporting without such a mandate would breach patient confidentiality and subject the provider to potential legal and professional sanctions. Thus, only the minor may decide whether or not to report the sexual assault to the police. [25]

Sometimes, health care providers are required to disclose information relating to an assault if the police or district attorney makes a request by court order or subpoena. [26] One such circumstance requires that some providers disclose "evidence indicating that a patient who is under the age of sixteen years has been the victim of a crime." [27] This means that if the police or district attorney prosecuting the rape of a minor age 15 or younger subpoenas a rape kit, because it is evidence that the patient was the victim of a crime, the provider must turn it over. [28] Note, however, that this law cannot be invoked for minors aged sixteen or seventeen, or for any adults.

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