Chapter 5 - § 5.4 • CORROBORATION OF CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS' TESTIMONY

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 5.4 • CORROBORATION OF CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS' TESTIMONY

The introduction of a child sexual assault victim's out of court statement describing the assault is admissible if the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient safeguards of reliability, and if the witness also testifies at trial. If the witness is unavailable at trial, there must also be corroborative evidence of the act described in the statement. The statement may be admissible if the victim is a child. If the statutory conditions are met, the statement provides an exception to the hearsay objection. C.R.S. § 13-25-129(5); People v. Rogers, 800 P.2d 1327, 1330 (Colo. App. 1990).

Ordinarily, testimony by a witness that previous to trial he or she made a statement to another...