## Facts

- Tony Dean Arbaugh, Jr., a former Pendleton County public-school student, alleged that a teacher sexually abused him repeatedly over several years while he was a minor.
- The teacher was later criminally convicted for sexually abusing numerous students at the same school.
- Arbaugh alleged that school personnel and related social-service actors had information giving them reasonable cause to suspect abuse but did not report suspected child abuse to authorities.
- Arbaugh relied on W. Va. Code § 49-6A-2, which requires specified professionals, including educators, to report reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect.
- Arbaugh filed suit in federal court and asserted a stand-alone civil damages claim alleging an implied private cause of action based on defendants’ failure to report under § 49-6A-2, claiming the nonreporting contributed to his continued exposure to the abuser and resulting injuries.

## Issues

1. Whether W. Va. Code § 49-6A-2 implies a private civil cause of action for damages against mandatory reporters who fail to report reasonably suspected child sexual abuse.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia answered the certified question in the negative.
- The court held that W. Va. Code § 49-6A-2 does not create an implied private cause of action for failure to report suspected child abuse.
- The court reasoned that the statutory scheme provides specified enforcement mechanisms (including criminal and professional/administrative consequences) and does not indicate legislative intent to authorize an additional civil damages remedy.
- The court noted that rejecting an implied statutory claim did not bar plaintiffs from pursuing other recognized theories (e.g., negligence-based claims) where the law otherwise permits.

## Legal Principles

- A private civil remedy will not be implied from a statute absent a sufficient indication that the Legislature intended to create such a remedy.
- Where a statute establishes duties and also sets out express enforcement mechanisms and penalties, courts are generally reluctant to infer an additional, unexpressed private damages action.
- W. Va. Code § 49-6A-2 imposes mandatory reporting duties enforced through the statute’s designated sanctions; it does not, by itself, authorize civil liability to victims for nonreporting.

## Conclusion

The court held that West Virginia’s mandatory child-abuse reporting statute does not support an implied private cause of action for damages against alleged mandatory reporters who fail to report suspected abuse; enforcement is through the statute’s specified penalties, and any new civil remedy must come from the Legislature rather than judicial implication.


Arbaugh v. Bd. of Educ. Cnty. of Pendleton, 214 W. Va. 677, 591 S.E.2d 235 (W. Va. 2003)