Oftentimes, the pendulum swings too far one way then the other. Clearly many LDS bishops these days are scared to death of covering up any sexual abuse and being criminally liable for not going to authorities. The story in the link below reeks of that. Seems a BYU student was a little too curious (maybe just performing an in-house washing and anointing?), got outed by roommates, ended up confessing to bishop, confessed to police, now is charged criminally.

What this guy did was wrong, but 20 years ago, this never would have gone to a bishop or to the police. Any still-Mo's better not confess anything to Brother Bishop or they could end up in jail with a new roommate and new things to confess...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=19080936&title=former-byu-student-charged-with-sex-abuse&s_cid=featured-2

In most, if not all, states in the US, a confession to clergy regarding a sexual crime (child abuse, etc.) is not covered under the concept of sanctity of the confessional. A bishop (or any other representative of a church) must report the confession to police immediately. The church also provides a 1-800 line, manned 24x7 for advice.

Crathes:

references for your statement, Please.

I can't retype the page from the CHI, but if you have a copy of CHI 2010, please see p. 164.

"If confidential information indicates that a member's abusive activities have violated applicable law, the bishop or stake president should urge the member to report these activities to the appropriate government authorities. Leaders can obtain information about local reporting requirements through the help line. Where reporting is required by law, the leader encourages the member to secure qualified legal advice."

Also, please see http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/clergymandated.cfm

for a listing of mandatory reporting states.