Christopher Smith v. State of Indiana

On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 18A02-1204-CR-331

The Indiana Code requires certain school officials to immediately report instances of suspected child abuse occurring within their institutions to the Department of Child Services or law enforcement. Here, a high school principal was convicted for failing to comply with this requirement after a student at his school told him she had been raped by a fellow student, and he did not notify the police or the Department of Child Services for four hours. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

G.G. was a sixteen-year-old student at Muncie Central High School. G.G. had previously been found to be a child in need of services and made a ward of the Madison County office of the Indiana Department of Child Services. She resided, by court order, at the Youth Opportunity Center in Muncie. The YOC served as G.G.’s custodial parent and provided care, room, and board to G.G. pursuant to a contract with DCS.

Between 12:20 and 12:25 p.m. on November 9, 2010, a fellow student brought G.G. to the office of Kathy McCord, the assistant principal at Muncie Central. G.G. told McCord that she had been raped (during lunch) by a fellow student, S.M., in a bathroom at the school. McCord immediately went to the office of Christopher Smith, then the principal at Muncie Central, and told him of the rape allegation.

*671Smith and McCord returned to McCord’s office, where G.G. repeated the allegation. Smith contacted Trudy Anderson, the school nurse, at approximately 12:40, and also Jackie Samuels, the associate principal, informing them of the allegation and asking them to come to McCord’s office. Anderson went into McCord’s office to sit with G.G., and Smith, Samuels, and McCord went to Smith’s office. Smith directed McCord to review the school’s security footage to identify the whereabouts of the two students — a process that took McCord about an hour. Anderson sat with G.G. until McCord returned, and at some point during that time G.G. was directed to provide a handwritten statement of her allegation, which she did.

At the time, there were between three and five commissioned and sworn police officers on school grounds, serving as security officers. Samuels asked Smith if she should contact one of those officers, call the YOC, or find S.M. Smith directed her to call the YOC. Samuels spoke on the phone with Crystal Dunigan, a staff member at the YOC responsible for G.G.’s cottage, and informed her of the alleged rape. Dunigan asked Samuels to call back, because Dunigan needed to talk to other individuals at the YOC.

Sometime between 12:45 and 1:00, Smith called the administration for the Muncie Community School District and spoke to the director of secondary education, Joann MeCowan. Smith was trying to reach Tim Heller, the assistant superintendent. Smith relayed G.G.’s allegation to MeCow-an, and said his question for Heller was whether a security officer should be present if S.M. was questioned. MeCowan reached the district’s director of human resources, Lon Sloan, who told her that Smith should have another administrator present, but did not need a security officer as they were not sure if it was a criminal matter or not. Both MeCowan and Sloan were headed to Muncie Central later that afternoon for job interviews.

Samuels called Dunigan a second time, shortly before 1:00. Dunigan explained that the YOC would send a driver to take G.G. to the emergency room. The two also discussed G.G.’s credibility, including an incident earlier that year in which Anderson believed G.G. had faked a seizure, and an attendance issue in which G.G. lied about where she had been. After the conversation concluded, Samuels told Smith that the YOC was coming to take G.G. to the emergency room.1

Smith then directed Samuels, at about 1:25, to go get S.M. — who had spent the intervening time finishing lunch and then attending a science class — and bring him to Smith’s office. Smith asked the Muncie Central athletic director, Thomas Jarvis, to be a witness while he questioned S.M. Jarvis asked Smith if this should be a police matter instead, but Smith said that it was still a school matter.

Smith questioned S.M. about the allegation, but S.M. denied raping G.G. He was not asked to provide a -written statement. The questioning last between fifteen and twenty minutes, and S.M. was then allowed to return to his class and — at the end of the school day — eventually went home.

After S.M. left, Smith asked Jarvis to search S.M.’s and G.G.’s lockers. S.M. indicated during the questioning that he *672and G.G. had exchanged several notes, but that he had throw them away; but Jarvis and Smith believed the letters would still be in the students’ lockers. Jarvis contacted one of the school’s security officers, Officer Mike Edwards of the Muncie Police, and asked him for assistance in the search. Jarvis did not, however, tell Officer Edwards that there had actually been an allegation of a rape occurring on school grounds — nor did anyone else at the school.

After completing the search, Officer Edwards continued his normal duties until 3:30, when he left the school for the day. Later that afternoon, Officer Edwards’s supervisor with the police department informed him of the rape, and that it had occurred at Muncie Central. Officer Edwards immediately went to Ball Memorial. He served as the lead investigator briefly, before another officer — Detective George Hopper — assumed that function two days later.

Meanwhile, back at Muncie Central, Samuels, Smith, Sloan, and McCowan proceeded to conduct interviews with candidates for an open administrator position. The interviews lasted until after 4:00.

At the conclusion of the second interview, Sloan realized that Heller and the superintendent for the district, Dr. Eric King, still had not yet been notified of the alleged'rape. With Sloan and McCowan in the room, Smith then called Heller. Smith explained to Heller that G.G. had reported that she had been raped, and that she was then at the hospital. Heller told Smith to contact DCS.

A little after 4:30, Sloan placed a call to the Indiana Child Abuse Hotline, operated by DCS. Smith then explained the circumstances of G.G.’s allegations to the hotline operator, who indicated that because S.M. was also sixteen, “this would be something I believe that we would probably refer to law enforcement,” and that “this looks like something we are going to screen out on our end,” but she would forward the report to her supervisors. (Joint Ex. 3 at 1, 6, 8.) Smith told the operator that he would contact law enforcement.

Smith then tried several times to contact the YOC to check on G.G., before finally getting ahold of Ross at the hospital, sometime between 4:30 and 4:50. The rape kit had not yet been completed at that time, and Smith asked Ross if the YOC intended to report the allegation, or if Muncie Central should do it. Ross replied that she assumed Muncie Central should make the report, as the rape occurred at the school.

Sloan then called the district’s chief of security and operations, Brian Lipscomb, and asked — hypothetically—what Lipscomb’s response would be if a student were sexually assaulted at school. Lipscomb responded that he would call the police. Sloan then informed Lipscomb of G.G.’s allegations, and that she was now at Ball Memorial. Lipscomb immediately went to the hospital, where he met with Officer Edwards, and Smith arrived there at about 5:30. Smith remained until about 6:10 and then left for a school board meeting, because he was recognizing several coaches and the volleyball team at the meeting. Lipscomb remained for about another thirty minutes — until G.G. was taken back to the YOC. At no point did Smith, Muncie Central, or the district ever directly contact the Muncie Police Department to report the rape.

On November 11, Detective Hopper began his investigation into the alleged rape. Six days into the investigation, S.M. admitted to raping G.G., and he was arrested *673and later pleaded guilty.2 At a point, however, the investigation shifted focus to Smith; why he did not contact the police at all — or DCS sooner — after G.G. informed him of the rape, and why district officials were then claiming G.G. had recanted, been vague in her accusation, or somehow changed her story over the course of the day. Smith told police he assumed that notifying the YOC and getting G.G. to the hospital would take care of the police notification.

The State eventually charged Smith with failure report G.G.’s allegation to DCS or local law enforcement, a class B misdemeanor under Indiana’s statutory scheme requiring school officials to report instances of child abuse.3 Ind.Code § 31-33-22-1(a) (2008). Smith filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the State had inappropriately combined the reporting requirements of two statutes, and also arguing that the reporting statute was void for vagueness. The trial court denied Smith’s motion and affirmed the constitutionality of the criminal provision, but amended the charging information to cure Smith’s claim that the information inappropriately combined two statutory provisions.4 Smith was convicted following a bench trial, sentenced to 120 days in jail, all suspended to probation, ordered to serve one hundred hours of community service, and also ordered to pay a fine of one hundred dollars along with court and probation costs.

Smith appealed, claiming the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction and also reiterating his claim that the criminal statute was unconstitutionally vague. In a split opinion, the Court of Appeals reversed and vacated Smith’s conviction. Smith v. State, 982 N.E.2d 348, 363 (Ind.Ct.App.2013).

Without needing to reach the question of the statute’s constitutionality, the majority concluded that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that Smith had reason to believe G.G. had been a victim of child abuse as required by the reporting statute, because neither he nor his fellow administrators believed that a student-on-student rape was child abuse as defined by the Indiana Code, and it also interpreted the statutory scheme to permit a reasonable investigation made in good faith. Id. at 362-63. Judge Vaidik dissented, believing that the majority’s interpretation of the reporting requirements to first allow a reasonable investigation undermined the purpose behind the statutory scheme and might operate to discourage, rather than encourage, the reporting of child abuse. Id. at 363-66 (Vaidik, J., dissenting).

We granted transfer, thereby vacating the Court of Appeals opinion. Smith v. State, 987 N.E.2d 70 (Ind.2013) (table); Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A).

Criminal Liability Under Indiana’s Child Abuse Reporting Statutes

Indiana Code article 31-33 contains a statutory structure to govern the reporting and investigation of child abuse and neglect. The structure’s purpose is to:

*674(1) encourage effective reporting of suspected or known incidents of child abuse or neglect;

(2) provide effective child services to quickly investigate reports of child abuse or neglect;

(3) provide protection for an abused or a neglected child from further abuse or neglect;

(4) provide rehabilitative services for an abused or a neglected child and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian; and

(5) establish a centralized statewide child abuse registry and an automated child protection system.

Ind.Code § 31-33-1-1 (2008). In furtherance of those aims, the statutes in this article provide that “an individual who has reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect shall make a report as required by this article.” Ind.Code § 31-33-5-1 (2008). If the individual is “a member of the staff of a medical or other public or private institution, school, facility, or agency, the individual shall immediately notify the individual in charge.” Ind.Code § 31-33-5-2(a) (2008). That “individual in charge ... shall report or cause a report to be made.” Ind.Code § 31-33-5-2(b). The report must be made “immediately ... to: (1) the department [DCS]; or (2) the local law enforcement agency.” Ind. Code § 31-33-5-4 (2008).

An individual has “reason to believe” a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect when the individual is presented with “evidence that, if presented to individuals of similar background and training, would cause the individuals to believe that a child was abused or neglected.” Ind.Code § 31-9-2-101 (2008). And at the time of the incident here, a “victim of child abuse or neglect” was defined in relevant part as “a child described in: (1) IC 31-34-1-1 through IC 31-34-1-5.” Ind.Code § 31-9-2-133(a) (2008).5

That range of statutory provisions — “IC 31-34-1-1 through 31-34-1-5” — establishes the fixed set of circumstances under which a child might be found to be a child in need of services, or CHINS. Of those circumstances, section 31-34-1-3 applies here, as it provides that

(a) A child is a child in need of services if, before the child becomes eighteen (18) years of age:

(1) the child is a victim of a sex offense under:

(A) IC 35-42-4-1;

[[Image here]]

and

(2) the child needs care, treatment, or rehabilitation that:

(A) the child is not receiving; and

(B) is unlikely to be provided or accepted without the coercive intervention of the court.

Ind.Code § 31-34-l-3(a) (2008).6 And, finally, the relevant portion of Indiana Code *675§ 35-42-4-1 — the criminal provision for rape — defines that offense as occurring when a person “knowingly or intentionally has sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex when: (1) the other person is compelled by force or imminent threat of force.” Ind.Code § 35-42-4-l(a) (2008).

The statutes presume that a person making such a report is acting in good faith, and immunize such good-faith conduct from civil or criminal liability. Ind. Code §§ 31-33-6-1, -3 (2008). But failure to comply with section 31-33-5-1 is a class B misdemeanor. Ind.Code § 31-33-22-1(a).7

Therefore, in order for the State to successfully convict Smith of the class B misdemeanor offense of failure to report child abuse or neglect, it was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith:

(1) had reason to believe;

(2) that G.G. was a victim of child abuse or neglect as

(a) a victim of rape

*676(b) who needed care, treatment, or rehabilitation that she was not receiving and that was unlikely to be provided or accepted without the coercive intervention of the court; and

(3) Smith knowingly;

(4) failed to immediately make a report to

(a) DCS or

(b) a local law enforcement agency.

Discussion

Smith’s contentions on appeal relate to elements (1), (2)(b), and (4), as we list them above. He argues that the evidence at trial was insufficient to show beyond a reasonable doubt that he had reason to believe G.G. was a victim of child abuse, or that G.G. was a victim of child abuse as that term is defined by statute. And in a related sense, he argues that the phone call to the YOC satisfied his reporting obligation under the statutes and, alternatively, that his report to DCS four hours after G.G.’s allegation was “immediate.” He also claims that the criminal provision through which he was subjected to punishment was unconstitutionally vague as it was applied to him. We address his constitutional claim first.

I. The Reporting Requirement Is Not Unconstitutionally Vague

When challenging the constitutionality of a statute, a party must clearly overcome a presumption of constitutionality. Fry v. State, 990 N.E.2d 429, 434 (Ind.2013). We observe a high level of deference with respect to the General Assembly’s decision-making, and any doubts are resolved in favor of constitutionality. Id. “We have no right to substitute our convictions as to the desirability or wisdom of legislation for those of our elected representatives.” State v. Downey, 476 N.E.2d 121, 122 (Ind.1985) (citing Sidle v. Majors, 264 Ind. 206, 209, 341 N.E.2d 763, 766 (1976)). We therefore review such challenges de novo. Lock v. State, 971 N.E.2d 71, 74 (Ind.2012).

A criminal statute is unconstitutionally vague if the conduct sought to be prohibited is not clearly defined. Brown v. State, 868 N.E.2d 464, 467 (Ind.2007). Such a due process failing may be reflected in one of two distinct statutory flaws: “(1) for failing to provide notice enabling ordinary people to understand the conduct that it prohibits, and (2) for the possibility that it authorizes or encourages arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement.” Id. (citing City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 56, 119 S.Ct. 1849, 144 L.Ed.2d 67 (1999)). We have therefore said that “there must be something in a criminal statute to indicate where the line is to be drawn between trivial and substantial things so that erratic arrests and convictions for trial acts and omissions will not occur. It cannot be left to juries, judges, and prosecutors to draw such lines.” Downey, 476 N.E.2d at 123. Likewise, the statute must define the offense with sufficient particularity that it “does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement” and may not “vest[ ] virtually complete discretion in the hands of the police to determine whether the suspect has satisfied the statute.” Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357-58, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983).

Smith’s challenge primarily falls under the first category of vagueness claims,8 which means the challenged stat*677ute must “give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct is forbidden so that ‘no man shall be held criminally responsible for conduct which he could not reasonably understand to be proscribed.’ ” Brotan, 868 N.E.2d at 467 (quoting Healthscript Inc. v. State, 770 N.E.2d 810, 816 (Ind.2002)). It must “convey sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding.” Rhinehardt v. State, 477 N.E.2d 89, 93 (Ind.1985). We will affirm a statute’s constitutionality against a vagueness challenge “if individuals of ordinary intelligence could comprehend it to the extent that it would fairly inform them of the generally proscribed conduct.” Klein v. State, 698 N.E.2d 296, 299 (Ind.1998). This challenge is assessed as the statute was applied to the particular defendant, “in light of the facts and circumstances of each individual case.” Brown, 868 N.E.2d at 467.

Smith argues that the word “immediately” in Indiana Code § 31-33-5-4 is unconstitutionally vague as it was applied to his reporting duty under section 31-33-5-1. We disagree.

Smith made this same argument in his motion to dismiss, and the trial court also rejected it. Citing to an ordinary dictionary, Judge Cannon defined “immediately” as being “in an immediate manner; specifically, a) without intervening agency or cause; directly; b) without delay; at once; instantly.” (App. at 78 (citing Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition (1968)).) He therefore found the word to be one commonly understood by ordinary individuals, that “rather straightforwardly and fairly informs a reasonably intelligent person when suspected child abuse must be reported.” (App. at 78.) We agree with Judge Cannon’s assessment.

Because Smith’s claim hinges upon how ordinary people understand statutory language, we will also look to ordinary dictionaries for assistance. And those dictionaries tell us that “immediately” means without any intermediate intervention or appreciable delay.9 In other words, when considered within the context of Indiana’s reporting statutes, the use of the word “immediately” in Indiana Code § 31-33-5-4 conveys a required strong sense of urgency in action and primacy of purpose in fulfilling the duty to report. See Anonymous Hosp. v. A.K., 920 N.E.2d 704, 707 (Ind.Ct.App.2010) (use of phrase “shall immediately” in reporting statute “makes clear that time is of the essence in such a situation”); cf. Barber v. State, 863 N.E.2d 1199, 1206 (Ind.Ct.App.2007) (evidence sufficient to show defendant failed to stop immediately after accident when defendant slowed on interstate, observed accident, and turned off at next exit), trans. denied; Jenkins v. State, 596 N.E.2d 283, 283-84 (Ind.Ct.App.1992) (affirming conviction for driving-related offenses after defendant caused accident and “did not stop immediately after the accident, but just ‘kept going’ for approximately one block”).

We think this ordinary view of the term comports with the General Assembly’s intent in enacting the reporting statutes — to encourage effective reporting of potential child abuse or neglect, to facilitate quick investigation of allegations by the proper authorities, and to protect the victims— and is not beyond the rational understanding of a reasonably intelligent person. *678Such a person would read this statute and clearly understand that his or her highest priority must be to report — or facilitate the report of — the known or suspected child abuse or neglect.10

So we reject Smith’s implication that the statute must be vague without some explicit time limitation or boundary defining immediately. But alternatively, he argues that the statute could be narrowly construed to incorporate such a boundary— and specifically, he asks for the boundary of “immediately” to be up to twenty-four hours later. He analogizes his reporting requirement to the time frame found in Indiana Code § 31 — 33^8—1(b) (2008), which provided that when DCS received a report that a child may be a victim of child abuse, it was to initiate an investigation “immediately, but not later than twenty-four (24) hours after receipt of the report.”

There are several problems with this approach. For one thing, it would hardly serve the purpose of the reporting statutes to permit — under every circumstance— school administrators to effectively sit on a report of potential (or even confirmed) child abuse for a full day before reporting it to the authorities. As perhaps the most dangerous resulting hypothetical, this would mean that a child could arrive to school with a black eye, that the child could tell a school official it came from his or her parent, and that the school could then send that child home at the end of the day — back to the abuser’s “care” — and not make a report until the following morning. Additionally, this would mean that the DCS investigation might not begin for yet another day, meaning that a full forty-eight hours might pass from a school official noticing a child was being beaten at home to when the State could bring its full protective powers to bear.

There is no rational way to permit such a universally broad view of the reporting statutes, given that they exist to quickly and effectively begin the process of investigating incidents of child abuse and removing those victims from their harmful surroundings. Put simply, the statutory scheme contemplates that individuals like teachers, school administrators, and hospital workers are often the first ones to become aware of serious problems in a child’s life. The State therefore entrusts those people to be the first lines of defense with respect to our most vulnerable citizens, and it likewise imparts on them a sterner obligation of intervention.

For another thing, the General Assembly itself has rejected Smith’s all-encompassing approach for the very statute he uses as authority. The current version of section 31-33-8-1 provides multiple outer limits for DCS, each reflecting different factual circumstances, but all under the broader heading of “immediately.” For example, when the report alleges that a child may be a victim of child abuse, “the assessment shall be initiated immediately, but not later than twenty-four (24) hours after receipt of the report,” Ind.Code § 31-33-8-l(e) (Supp.2013), but when it is believed that “a child is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm,” the assessment shall be initiated “immediately, but not later than one (1) hour, after receiving the report.” Ind.Code § 31 — 33—8—1 (d) (Supp.2013). We will not construe a statute in a manner so clearly contrary to the General Assembly’s view on the subject.

But finally, a criminal statute need not list with absolute specificity the *679prohibited conduct; “rather, it must inform the individual of the conduct generally proscribed.” Brown, 868 N.E.2d at 467 (citing State v. Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d 653, 655 (Ind.2000)); see also Vaillancourt v. State, 695 N.E.2d 606, 610 (Ind.Ct.App.1998) (“The statute need only inform the individual of the generally proscribed conduct; a statute need not list, with itemized exactitude, each item of conduct prohibited.”) (quoting Mallory v. State, 563 N.E.2d 640, 644 (Ind.Ct.App.1990), trans. denied), trans. denied. And we think that the statute here does so inform.

Under the facts of this case, no reasonable person of ordinary intelligence would have difficulty determining whether or not Smith acted with a sense of urgency or primacy of purpose when his report came after a four-hour delay that included doing intermediary tasks such as conducting a personal interrogation of the alleged rapist, ordering the search of the involved students’ lockers for evidence corroborating the alleged rapist’s defense, declining to contact the police when asked (even though there were multiple officers in the building), and — most notably — conducting two hours’ worth of unrelated and purely administrative job interviews. Nor do we think this case indicates that the statute was arbitrarily enforced by the police when the perpetrator of a sex crime was allowed to remain in the general student population and eventually returned home, and the scene of the assault was unsecured and left open for other students to use — all things resulting directly from the delay, which threatened to contaminate (or destroy) evidence of the crime, and all things which were imminently avoidable by the more prompt involvement of law enforcement. We therefore reject Smith’s claim that Indiana Code § 31-33-5-4 is unconstitutionally vague as it was applied to him.

II. The Evidence Was Sufficient to Sustain Smith’s Conviction

In our review of a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence underlying a conviction, we will neither reweigh evidence nor assess the credibility of witnesses. Bailey v. State, 979 N.E.2d 133, 135 (Ind.2012). All probative evidence, even where it might be conflicting, and the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence are viewed in the light most favorable to the judgment of conviction. Id. So long as an inference may be reasonably drawn from the evidence to the verdict, we will affirm unless no reasonable trier of fact could have found the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Lock, 971 N.E.2d at 74; Gray v. State, 957 N.E.2d 171, 174 (Ind.2011). “It is therefore not necessary that the evidence overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence.” Id.

Smith, as we noted above, presents several challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence underlying his conviction. Specifically, he argues (1) that the evidence was insufficient to show that he had reason to believe G.G. was the victim of child abuse because there was no evidence that he had reason to believe (a) that a minor-on-minor rape was child abuse, and (b) that G.G. would only receive care, treatment, and rehabilitation through the coercive intervention of a court, and; (2) that the evidence was insufficient to show that he failed to make an immediate report.

A. Was the Evidence Sufficient to Show That Smith Had Reason to Believe That G.G. Was a Victim of Child Abuse?

As we laid out above, whether Smith had “reason to believe” that G.G. was a victim of child abuse meant the State was required to prove that he was presented with “evidence that, if presented to individuals *680of similar background and training, would cause the individuals to believe that a child was abused or neglected.” Ind.Code § 31-9-2-101. And in his ease, that required him to have reason to believe two things: that G.G. was a victim of rape, and that she was a child in need of services.

1. Smith had reason to believe G.G. was a victim of rape.

Smith argues that of the five individuals of similar background and training who testified — Sloan, McCowan, Samuels, Jarvis, and McCord — none believed (at the time) that an allegation of a sixteen-year-old student raping another sixteen-year-old student constituted child abuse.11 Smith concedes that Heller testified that he was aware of the need to immediately report the allegation, but argues that Heller was not an “individual of similar background and training” because Heller, Smith says, apparently had a much broader and lengthier level of experience in education and school administration.12

Smith also points to a number of exhibits admitted into evidence at his trial— administrative guidelines and manuals promulgated by the school district and, in one instance, edited and approved by DCS and the Delaware County Prosecutor’s office— either not defining child abuse or defining child abuse as a sexual act between an adult and a child.13 Thus, he says, to the *681extent the statutory definition of “reason to believe” encompasses “training,” the evidence shows that he was trained to know that he had a duty to report child abuse, but not trained to believe G.G.’s allegation would have been child abuse.14

Clearly Smith, Sloan, Samuels, Jarvis, McCowan and McCord were all wrong in their belief that G.G.’s allegation of rape by another minor could not constitute child abuse — likewise, the training pamphlet available at the school was incorrect.15 As the statutory scheme we outlined above makes clear, rape is one of the predicate sex crimes that supports a CHINS determination and therefore, in turn, would constitute an instance of child abuse. See Ind.Code §§ 31-9-2-133(a), 31-34-l-3(a), 35-42-4-1(a). And the crime of rape has no limitation or qualification with respect to the ages of either the victim or the perpetrator. See Ind.Code § 35-42-4-1. A sixteen-year-old perpetrator commits the same crime as a forty-year-old perpetrator, so the minor victim of the sixteen-year-old would be a victim of child abuse just the same as the victim of the forty-year-old. Smith does not contest his mistake of law.

The real issue in his claim is whether (or how) his error — shared as it was by the training pamphlet and his peers — impacts his culpability for the offense. Does the required “reason to believe” refer to the defendant’s awareness that the committed conduct satisfies the statutory definition of child abuse? Or does the phrase refer to the defendant’s “reason to believe” that the conduct alleged actually occurred as a factual matter?

The State argues for the latter perspective. Because rape, as a matter of law, is a predicate offense to child abuse with no age qualification, the State interprets the statutory reporting scheme to mean that “Smith had a duty to immediately report that G.G. may be a rape victim when he knew information which would cause ‘individuals of similar background and training ... to believe that’ G.G. had been raped.” (Appellee’s Br. at 11-12.)

The State views the statute’s reference to training and background as gauging “the duty to report according to the training and background of the individual with knowledge of the facts,” with the baseline *682standard being “a person of ordinary background and training.” (Appellee’s Br. at 13.) And the statute operates to excuse such an ordinary person from liability “merely on proof that he or she had observed signs or symptoms that could only have caused a trained expert to reasonably believe that abuse or neglect had occurred.” (Appellee’s Br. at 13.) “On the other hand, a trained emergency-room physician, or psychologist, might have such knowledge,” and in that example assessment of what others with similar backgrounds and training might think would be relevant to such a defendant’s criminal liability. (Appellee’s Br. at 14.) Under this approach, the State argues, the element refers to Smith’s knowledge of factual information, events, and circumstances, and how he — or other school administrators— would view those facts, and it is irrelevant whether he was operating under an incorrect legal assessment of the scope of the child abuse definition: ignorantia juris non excusat.

On one hand, Smith’s claim has merit in that a person would only “knowingly” fail to report child abuse or neglect when they actually knew that the conduct constituted child abuse or neglect under the statutory scheme. And the State’s position would then criminalize ignorance — that is, if a defendant in good faith did not know that the conduct complained of constituted child abuse or neglect (perhaps a question of negligent behavior on the part of the defendant), they would be subjected to criminal liability. In some cases, Smith’s position might be proper.16

In light of the purpose of the reporting statutes, however, we think the State’s view is correct. As we mentioned above, the General Assembly has expressly charged particular individuals — like Smith — with a significant responsibility: to serve as the first responders to incidents of child abuse and neglect, and to act swiftly to ensure the child is protected from further harm. In furtherance of this responsibility, it has imposed a particular duty, with particular consequences for failure in that duty. Smith does not challenge the existence or propriety of that duty— only whether he can be punished for not knowing its scope.

But if Smith’s mistaken interpretation of the law were a defense to his criminal liability, it would remove all incentives from any such professionals to understand the scope of that statutory duty. And it would, in effect, vitiate the duty entirely. The statutes are aimed at “encouraging] effective reporting of suspected or known incidents of child abuse or neglect ... providing] effective child services to quickly investigate reports of child abuse or neglect ... [and] providing] protection for an abused or a neglected child from further abuse or neglect,” Ind.Code § 31-33 — 1—1(1)—(3), but Smith would have us announce today that the obligations — and *683penalties — imposed to further those purposes can be avoided by accidental, or even willful, avoidance of learning what falls under the statutory scheme.17

The primary goal of statutory interpretation is to give effect to the General Assembly’s intent, Nicoson v. State, 938 N.E.2d 660, 663 (Ind.2010), not to undermine it. And to say this approach would chill reporting of child abuse or neglect in Indiana would grossly understate its impact. It would tacitly encourage administrators and other professionals to simply not read the statutes in full because, to sum up Smith’s defense: if you just don’t learn what child abuse is, you’ll never get in trouble for not reporting it. It would reward systemic ignorance in entire school districts and corporations, to the obvious detriment of the very children the statutes are supposed to be protecting. And it would turn the high school principal’s decision-making process, when faced with a traumatized child, into a Bar exam question.

And in fact, we think the statutory scheme contemplates just the opposite of Smith’s argument: it is designed, if anything, to err on the side of over reporting suspected child abuse or neglect. To that end, the statutes presume a report is made in good faith and immunize from civil or criminal liability the person who makes such a report. Ind.Code §§ 81-33-6-1, -3. The statutes do not, however, presume that a failure to file a report was done in good faith, or immunize from liability those persons who, even in good faith, believe that a report is not necessary.

In other words, the General Assembly has protected those who report and are mistaken, not those who are mistaken (or intentionally ignorant) and do not report. Our decision today may increase the number of individuals who fall into the former category, but if we did as Smith suggests we would certainly risk increasing the number of individuals in the latter. One outcome comports with the General Assembly’s stated intent; the other most certainly does not.

Having resolved this, we reach the question of whether the evidence was sufficient to show that Smith had reason to believe G.G. was the victim of child abuse by virtue of her rape allegation.18 And in *684this regard the record shows that a fellow student brought G.G. to McCord’s office, where G.G. told Smith — and every subsequent administrator brought into the room — that she had been raped. G.G. was “humped over, drawn inward, hands, she kept her hands, her face in her hands. Not really making eye contact with [McCord]. Just talking,” and she was crying. (Tr. at 13.) She also clearly articulated her attacker’s identity, the circumstances, the time she was attacked, and the location of the attack.

It is apparent that Smith had some doubts as to G.G.’s veracity, but it is equally apparent that Smith took the allegation seriously enough to summon the school nurse and direct Samuels to contact the YOC, call the senior administrators in the district to ask for guidance, begin his own personal interrogation of the perpetrator, and direct the search of student lockers. And when reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we view “[t]he evidence— even if conflicting — and all reasonable inferences drawn from it ... in a light most favorable to the conviction.” Bailey, 979 N.E.2d at 135. And doing so here leads us to conclude that there was sufficient and substantial evidence of probative value to support the fact-finder's determination that Smith had reason to believe that the factual circumstances alleged by G.G. actually occurred — that she was the victim of a rape.

2. Smith had reason to believe G.G. was a child in need of services.

As we explained, the definition of “victim of child abuse or neglect” at the time of Smith’s trial required more than just a reason to believe the predicate offense occurred. The State must also have shown that Smith had reason to believe “the child need[ed] care, treatment, or rehabilitation that: (A) the child [was] not receiving; and (B) [was] unlikely to be provided or accepted without the coercive intervention of the court.” Ind.Code § 31-34-l-3(a). This is, as Smith says, because “the General Assembly ha[d] simply adopted the CHINS categories as the definition of child abuse or neglect.” (Appellant’s Br. at 31.)

At the outset, though we acknowledge that the General Assembly adopted the CHINS statutes in crafting its definition of child abuse, we doubt that its intent in doing so was to require school and hospital officials to make accurate assessments of whether a particular child needed particular care, treatment, or rehabilitation that he or she was not receiving and that could only be provided through court intervention. Under the reporting statutes, this assessment is to be completed by DCS, through its local offices, following the receipt of a report of suspected child abuse or neglect from medical or school personnel. See Ind.Code § 31-33-8-1 (2008). Similarly, the filing of a CHINS petition— seeking treatment, care, or rehabilitation through coercive intervention of a court— is a DCS (or prosecutor) responsibility, see Ind.Code § 31-34-9-1 (2008), and the scope of any resulting care, treatment, or rehabilitation is a determination the stat*685utes entrust to the presiding juvenile court judge, see Ind.Code § 31-34-19-10 (2008).

This aspect of the statutory CHINS definition involves