Under Kentucky law, anyone who suspects a child is being abused is required to report it.

Some state lawmakers want to make sure that law is part of the training for high school coaches.

State Senator Casey Chambers Armstrong, a Louisville Democrat, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 120.

She testified about the need for this bill today during the Senate Committee on Education, chaired by the co-sponsor of the bill, Republican State Senator Stephen West of Paris.

There was an investigative series done by a newspaper that looked at Kentucky, and it found over 80 sort of public documented cases involving sexual abuse of high school athletes over the past 15 years in our school system.

And it also cited some statistics saying around 9% of student athletes report that someone in a position of trust did something at some point that made them feel uncomfortable.

And that's not what we want.

We know the vast majority of our coaches are out there and like the coaches I had out there changing lives.

We know sports are so important for our young people and can give them so much and teach them so many important life skills.

And so this is just a way to make sure that we're equipping everyone with the tools that they need to be able to make sure that sports stay the really important, healthy place that they can be for kids.

This seems like a small thing, and it is a small thing and in a good way.

It's not an onerous new big bureaucracy or something that we're doing it just a small thing.

But but sometimes the smallest things have a very, very large impact.

And, you know, if we can do this and prevent 1 to 10 cases or whatever, it's it's it's a very, very big thing.

Senate Bill 120 would also require student athletes and their parents be made aware of Kentucky's right to report abuse laws.

The bill passed out of the committee unanimously and now heads to the full Senate for consideration there.