If a wife knows (or even suspects) that her husband is abusing children (ESPECIALLY IN THEIR HOME!!) and doesn't say anything then I think she should be held criminally responsible.
If a wife suspects her husband abuses children, does she have to tell anyone? | The Lookout - Yahoo! News
ESPN has released recordings that suggest that Laurie Fine, the wife of former Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine, suspected that her husband was sexually abusing a ballboy for the team.
"I know everything that went on, you know," Laurie Fine says to Bobby Davis in 2002 on the recording.
Was Laurie Fine legally obligated to tell the police about her suspicions?
No--not even if it could be proved that she was guilty of knowingly allowing sexual abuse to occur in her own home.
To be criminally liable, Laurie Fine would have had to have participated in the alleged abuse or have tried to actively hide her husband from the law.
New York has a "spousal privilege" law, which means the spouse of an accused person cannot be compelled to testify against him or her in court in most cases. That wouldn't be an issue in Davis's case, because the alleged abuse happened in the 1980s, well beyond the federal statute of limitations of 10 years for crimes involving the sexual abuse of children.
If a wife suspects her husband abuses children, does she have to tell anyone? | The Lookout - Yahoo! News