NCJ Number
145816
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 32 Issue: 5 Dated: (September 1993) Pages: 971-974
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In deciding a landmark child sexual abuse case, the U.S. Supreme Court broke new ground in addressing the unique needs and qualities of child witnesses.
Abstract
The 1992 case, White v. Illinois, involved a 4-year-old girl who was sexually abused by a friend of the family. The girl's mother notified the police, and the child was taken to the hospital. During the trial, the prosecutor made two attempts to call the child as a witness, but each time the child experienced emotional difficulty in the courtroom and had to leave without testifying. The trial court found White guilty as charged, based on the statement the child made to the babysitter, her mother, police, and doctors. White objected to the girl being excused from the courtroom, arguing that his right to the confrontation clause had been violated because the child was unable to testify and he could not cross-examine his accuser. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that the spontaneous statement of an abused child, made outside the courtroom and while receiving medical treatment because of molestation, is trustworthy and may be allowed as evidence at trial. The court curtailed the right of a defendant to go face to face against the accuser, considering that a victimized child's statement made while he or she is emotionally injured has substantial value that cannot be duplicated simply by testifying later in court. 16 references