Children; admissibility of statements in certain cases.
Summary
HB2010 amends Virginia’s child-hearsay statute governing when a young child’s out-of-court statement may be admitted in cases involving offenses against children. The bill raises the age threshold from under 13 to under 15 for a child whose statement may qualify, so long as the court first finds the statement reliable based on the time, content, and surrounding circumstances. The bill retains the existing requirement that the child either testify or be found unavailable, and if unavailable, the statement may be admitted only with corroborative evidence.
The measure applies to a broad range of serious offenses against children, including homicide, sexual offenses, abuse, neglect, trafficking-related offenses, and certain exploitation crimes. It also preserves the current procedural protections, including a pretrial reliability hearing and a 14-day notice requirement to the opposing party. The bill does not eliminate other hearsay rules; it simply expands one specific pathway for admitting a child’s statement in these cases.
Impact
If enacted, HB2010 would amend § 19.2-268.3 of the Code of Virginia by expanding the class of child declarants covered by the statute from those under 13 to those under 15 at the time of trial or hearing. That change would likely make more children’s out-of-court statements admissible in prosecutions and hearings involving offenses against children, potentially affecting criminal cases, evidentiary rulings, and trial preparation for prosecutors and defense counsel. The bill leaves intact the statute’s reliability, notice, and corroboration safeguards, so the principal legal effect is a broader age-based eligibility for this hearsay exception rather than a wholesale change to evidence law.
Sentiment
The available vote and committee action suggest mixed but somewhat skeptical sentiment. In subcommittee, the bill was recommended to be laid on the table by a 5-3 vote, indicating that a majority of members were not prepared to advance it at that stage. No transcript excerpts are available, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the vote outcome suggests concern or hesitation about expanding admissibility of child statements.
Contention
The main point of contention is the expansion of the hearsay exception from children under 13 to children under 15. Supporters would likely view the change as improving the ability to prosecute crimes against children by allowing reliable statements from older minors to be used when necessary. Opponents may worry that broadening the exception could increase the risk of unreliable testimony being admitted, especially in cases where the child does not testify and the statement is admitted only through corroboration. The subcommittee vote to lay the bill on the table indicates that at least some members were not convinced the expansion was warranted.