California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ocampo, E056700 (Cal. App. 2013):
Evidence Code section 1360 creates an exception to the hearsay rule in criminal prosecutions for a child's statements describing acts of child abuse or neglect, including statements describing sexual abuse. (Evid. Code 1360; People v. Brodit (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1312, 1327-1328.) The statute provides, in pertinent part: "(a) In a criminal prosecution where the victim is a minor, a statement made by the victim when under the age of 12 describing any act of child abuse or neglect performed with or on the child by another, or describing any attempted act of child abuse or neglect with or on the child by another, is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if all of the following apply: [] (1) The statement is not otherwise admissible by statute or court rule. [] (2) The court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability. [] (3) The child either: [] (A) Testifies at the proceedings. [] (B) Is unavailable as a witness, in which case the statement may be admitted only if there is evidence of the child abuse or neglect that corroborates the statement made by the child." (Evid. Code, 1360, subd. (a), italics added.)
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