Protect Child Victims From Additional Trauma

I am asking Georgia lawmakers to look at the current law regarding child victims and recorded forensic interviews, and to consider giving children another option besides having to personally face the person accused of abusing them in court.

My child was interviewed at a child advocacy center by a trained professional. The interview was recorded, and my child had already gone through the difficult process of telling someone what happened.

There is other evidence in my child’s case as well. This is not about whether my child was believed. My concern is what my child would have to go through if the remaining charge went to trial and my child had to testify in person.

The accused pleaded guilty to the other charges but did not plead guilty to aggravated child molestation. Because that charge was not resolved by a guilty plea, pursuing it would mean going through a trial. That could mean putting my child on the witness stand and having my child face the person accused of hurting them.

I could not bring myself to put my child through that additional trauma.

And I don’t think parents should have to make that choice.

Under O.C.G.A. § 24-8-820, Georgia law addresses when a child’s out-of-court statement describing sexual contact or physical abuse can be admitted through the testimony of the person who heard the statement. The statute generally requires the child to testify at trial unless the child’s testimony is waived or forfeited. This is the part of Georgia law that I am asking lawmakers to reconsider when a properly conducted and recorded forensic interview already exists.

I am not asking for the courts to ignore due process or the constitutional rights of someone accused of a crime. I am asking for lawmakers to consider whether there can be another way to protect a child from additional trauma while still allowing the court to consider reliable evidence that was already recorded.

There could be safeguards. For example, the interview could be required to have been conducted by a trained forensic interviewer, recorded in its entirety, properly authenticated, and reviewed by a judge. The court could also consider the child’s age, circumstances, and the potential additional trauma caused by requiring the child to testify in person.

My child should not have to relive what happened just so the court can hear something my child already told a trained professional and that was recorded.

This should not only be about my child. I want this to apply to children who may find themselves in this situation in the future.

I don’t want another child to have to go through what my child went through.

No parent should have to sit there and decide whether pursuing justice for their child is worth putting that child through even more trauma.

Our children deserve to be heard. They deserve to be protected. And they deserve another option.

The Georgia Laws I Am Referring To

O.C.G.A. § 24-8-820 — Testimony as to child’s description of sexual contact or physical abuse

This statute addresses the admissibility of a child’s out-of-court statement describing sexual contact or physical abuse and includes the requirement that the child testify at trial unless the testimony is waived or forfeited.

O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4 — Child molestation; aggravated child molestation

This statute defines child molestation and aggravated child molestation and establishes the penalties for aggravated child molestation.