NCJ Number
152789
Date Published
1994
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This document lists and summarizes all laws that require the identity of a child victim or child witness in a criminal proceeding to be withheld from the record or the public, as of December 31, 1993.
Abstract
Thirty-three States and the Federal code contain such a provision. The laws specify the age of victims and witnesses to which the laws apply, the offenses involved, and the specific types of information that must be kept confidential. This includes residence and business addresses and telephone numbers; reports, papers, pictures, photographs, court files, and other documents containing addresses or telephone numbers; places of employment; and other information. Some laws apply to sexual assault victims, regardless of their age. Procedures to be used by police, prosecutors, court personnel, and others are also specified in some laws. A separate section explains the function of the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, which was founded by the American Prosecutors Research Institute in 1985.