Eleanor StoneThe not-guilty plea entered by Gary Siders Jr. in an Ohio courtroom on 26 August 2026 has drawn international attention — arriving just months after England enacted its first-ever statutory mandatory reporting law for child sexual abuse. The two events, separated by 3,500 miles, are connected by a single question that UK professionals are only now beginning to reckon with: what are the legal consequences when someone who could have reported suspected child abuse does not?
What Happened in Ohio
Gary Siders Jr., 36, stands accused of two counts of sexual battery and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The charges emerged from a case that Ohio prosecutors have described as among the most disturbing in the state's recent history.
On 30 June 2026, police arrested Gary Siders Jr. alongside his wife, Elizabeth Siders, and his parents, Christina and Gary Siders Sr. All four were charged with child endangerment after officers discovered 16 children living in conditions that led authorities to describe the Hamden, Ohio property as a "house of horrors." The children are believed to be the offspring of Gary Jr. and Elizabeth Siders. They remain in state custody.
The circumstances of the discovery matter. Police were already investigating an unrelated but serious allegation — a separate child sexual abuse case in which Gary Siders Jr. is accused of abusing a minor who was not his child. It was that prior investigation, and the search warrant it produced, that led officers to the family home. And it was in that home that the wider endangerment case was uncovered.
At his arraignment in late August, Siders Jr. pleaded not guilty to all charges. His bond was set at $550,000. He had also accumulated four separate public indecency charges over nine days immediately before his 30 June arrest. Competency evaluations are ongoing for all four adults charged in the case.
The sequence is important: a prior report of suspected abuse triggered an investigation that uncovered harm at a much larger scale. Someone had reported. Something had been followed up. In England in 2026, whether that sequence plays out now has a legal dimension it did not have six months ago.
England's New Mandatory Reporting Law: What the Crime and Policing Act 2026 Changes
On 29 April 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent. Among its provisions is England's first statutory mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse — a change that child protection advocates had campaigned for over more than a decade.
Before the Act, professionals working with children had moral and professional obligations to report suspected abuse, but no legally enforceable requirement under criminal law. A teacher who received a child's disclosure of sexual abuse and failed to report it could face internal disciplinary action or a referral to their regulator — but not a criminal charge or a statutory bar from working with children based on failure to report alone.
The new framework changes that. Under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the mandatory reporting duty applies to individuals in key roles with responsibility for children — those working in education, healthcare, social care, and charities or youth organisations. The duty is triggered in two circumstances: when a child under 18 directly discloses that they have been sexually abused, or when a professional witnesses, or is told about, an event involving child sexual abuse.
The consequences of non-compliance are significant. Professionals who fail to report when the duty applies can be barred from working with children and may be referred to their professional regulator for a fitness to practise investigation. For a nurse, teacher, or social worker, that referral can end a career.
One critical caveat: as of September 2026, the duty is not yet in force. The government must still issue commencement orders and supporting statutory guidance before the legal obligation becomes enforceable. The House of Commons Library research briefing on duties to report child abuse in England, updated in March 2026, sets out the full legislative history and the scope of the new provisions. The direction of travel is now set — the question for organisations is not whether to prepare, but how soon.
A Year 6 Teacher in Birmingham: A Concrete Scenario
Consider a scenario that will become increasingly common once the commencement order is issued.
It is the spring term of 2027. A Year 6 teacher at a primary school in Birmingham is approached by a pupil during a free activity period. The child says, quietly, that "someone at home has been touching me in a way I don't like." The teacher thanks the child, reassures them, and tells them they will speak to the school's designated safeguarding lead (DSL).
The DSL happens to be on a training day in another building. The teacher decides to wait until the following morning rather than interrupt the session.
Under the current voluntary framework — in force before the commencement order — that delay may be judged against the school's internal safeguarding policy. Under the mandatory reporting provisions of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, once it comes into force, it may be a criminal act. The duty rests on the individual who received the disclosure, not solely on the DSL. The teacher is the reporting party. The 24-hour delay could trigger a fitness to practise investigation. The consequence: a bar from working with children, and the effective end of a 15-year teaching career.
Now change one variable. It is not the child who discloses — it is a classmate who tells the same teacher that they "saw something happen" at their friend's house during a sleepover. Does this second-hand account, if it constitutes information the teacher "heard about" involving child sexual abuse, also trigger the mandatory duty?
This threshold question — direct disclosure vs. third-party account — is precisely the kind of issue that legal advice will resolve, and that internal safeguarding policy alone will not. A solicitor specialising in education law or child safeguarding can advise on how to draft policy language that captures the Act's threshold, what documentation is required when a duty is triggered, and how borderline situations should be handled and recorded.
See also our related coverage on how UK law applies to children at risk: After Noah Woods: What UK Families Need to Know About Child Safety Legal Rights.
What UK Professionals and Organisations Must Do Before the Duty Comes Into Force
The Ohio case is instructive not because the US and English legal systems operate the same way — they do not — but because it illustrates the human cost of delayed or absent reporting at scale. Sixteen children in Hamden, Ohio were in danger. The thread that unravelled that situation began with someone, somewhere, filing a report about a separate incident.
England's mandatory reporting law is designed to ensure that, once it comes into force, that thread is always pulled. But organisations cannot wait for the commencement order to begin preparing.
Review your safeguarding policy against the new framework. Does it clearly identify which staff members are now individual reporting parties, not just conduits to the DSL? Does it set out what documentation is required when a disclosure is received, who must be notified, and within what timeframe? A policy drafted before April 2026 almost certainly does not reflect the mandatory reporting architecture.
Seek legal advice on threshold questions before they arise in practice. The Act distinguishes between direct disclosures, witnessed events, and information "heard about." Organisations — schools, NHS trusts, hospices, youth clubs — need a clear internal standard for where their duty begins, documented in writing, before the first borderline case lands on a staff member's desk at 3pm on a Friday.
Train every in-scope individual, not just the designated safeguarding lead. Under the old voluntary framework, the DSL was effectively the system's single reporting point. Under mandatory reporting, individual legal liability falls on every professional who receives a disclosure. That changes the training requirement, the liability exposure, and the conversation every line manager needs to have with their team before commencement.
If you work in education, healthcare, social care, or a children's organisation and need to understand your obligations under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, a qualified legal expert can advise on your organisation's specific situation.
This article provides general legal information only. It does not constitute legal advice. For guidance on your specific obligations under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, consult a qualified solicitor.
