• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's Senate Education Committee unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to establish a task force that would study the impact of child sexual abuse.
• The group would be named Jolene's Law Task Force after Jolene Loetscher of Sioux Falls, a victim of sexual abuse as a teenager who has spoken publicly about her story.
• The task force would meet to study child sexual abuse in South Dakota and suggest ways the state could improve its policies for dealing with the problem.
• "We owe it to everyone to give all of those children out there the right to become survivors," Loetscher said, in support of the bill.
• The Associated Press generally does not normally name the victims of sexual abuse but is naming Loetscher because she has come forward and spoken publicly.
• The task force would include a victim, law enforcement, medical and mental health experts, child advocates and a tribal representative with experience on the issue. It includes a $21,000 allocation from the Legislative Research Council to fund meetings later this year.
• The measure now goes to the full Senate.
• The bill's main sponsor, Sen. Deb. Soholt, R-Sioux Falls, said one in four girls and one in six boys are victims of sexual assault.
• "This is an adult problem," Soholt said.
• Soholt initially thought she would propose a school mandate and take direct action addressing the issue. But after talking to educators, she determined more investigation needs to be done.
• "What I came to understand is that we don't know what to do," Soholt said.
• Hollie Strand, a forensic interviewer who talks to children in abuse cases, said she has noticed inconsistency in how organizations address this problem.
• "Everybody has a different response to this. I don't think we know as a state who's getting it right and who's getting it wrong," Strand said.
• Dr. Nancy Free, a pediatrician and expert in the evaluation and treatment of abused and neglected children, said child sexual abuse often goes unreported, causing later problems.
• "It's expensive to take care of adults who have been victimized and not helped," Free said.

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