New legislation, that was signed into law last week, will change how hazing incidents are reported throughout Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, state lawmakers will visit a Montgomery County high school — currently embroiled in its own hazing investigation — for a discussion on the new legislation and how it is intended to protect children by addressing reporting gaps for victims of child abuse.
The legislation, Pa. House Bill 2474, was sponsored by Pa. State Rep. Nikki Rivera (D-96th dist.) and calls for expanded mandated requirements for reporting child abuse, like requiring hazing to be treated as a mandated reportable child abuse offense.
Though the bill was initially targeted at stopping deep fake pornography that was being created with images of underage children, two state senators Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia and Montgomery County) and Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties) introduced an anti-hazing provision into Rivera’s legislation.
Through this new legislation, hazing and incidents in which a child’s image is used to create “deep fake” pornography would both be considered offenses that must be reported to the state’s Childline service for reporting child abuse and child sex abuse materials.
The state’s Department of Human Services will then take each report to law enforcement officials across the state to address these reports quickly.
In a statement on the legislation, State Rep. Rivera said the effort is intended to protect children from being victimized by hazing and AI-generated material or material created and/or shared by another child.
“House Bill 2474 makes it crystal clear that mandated reporters must immediately report to authorities when a child is creating child sexual abuse material or hazing another student,” Rivera said in a statement. “By taking the guesswork out of the equation, this bill goes a long way toward ensuring that all adults responsible for children report crimes against minors in a timely, efficient manner to prevent any further abuse. This necessary reform of our mandated reporting requirements will strengthen our system of care and make our children safer.”
The bill was signed into law on Oct. 22, 2026 and will take effect on Jan. 22, 2027.
On Tuesday, state and local officials will be at Cheltenham High School in Montgomery County to discuss the impacts of this new law.
The high school is currently involved in its own hazing investigation. Four coaches and six students were charged after a sophomore at the school told officials he was assaulted with a broomstick in a school locker room after football practice.
As the case is expected to head to trial, attorneys for the coaches involved have said their clients did not know the full extent of the incident.
Prosecutors claim the coaches were told by a player what happened in the alleged incident and they shared text messages that point to them trying to keep the incident a secret.
During Tuesday’s event at the high school, lawmakers will detail how the new law will address hazing and will strengthen protections for children all across the state.
The event is expected to be held at 3 p.m. at Cheltenham High School in Wyncote.
