Can a hearsay statement of a child under the age of 12 be used as evidence in a sexual assault case?

Evidence Code section 1228 provides that if the court finds the hearsay statement of a child under age 12 sufficiently trustworthy in certain respects, it may admit the statement "for the purpose of establishing the elements of the crime in order to admit as evidence the confession of a person accused of violating" certain criminal laws. In other words, the statement may be used to satisfy the requirements of the corpus delicti rule. "Section 1228 basically allows evidence that would otherwise be inadmissible to be admitted in child sex crimes cases, but solely for the purpose of establishing the corpus delicti and thus paving the way for [the] trier of fact to hear the defendant's inculpatory statements." (Creutz v. Superior Court (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 822, 826, 56 Cal.Rptr.2d 870.) If the corpus delicti rule no longer existed, Evidence Code section 1228 would not be necessary.