Hearsay Exception: Tender Years

‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other rule of evidence or provision of law, a statement by a child twelve years of age or younger at the time of the state- ment relating to a sexual offense committed against that child, or an offense involving physical abuse committed against that child by the child’s parent or guardian or any other person exercising comparable authority over the child at the time of the offense, shall be admissible in a criminal or juvenile proceeding if: (1) The court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, if any, that the circumstances of the state- ment, including its timing and content, provide particularized guarantees of its trustworthiness, (2) the statement was not made in preparation for a legal proceeding, (3) the proponent of the statement makes known to the adverse party an intention to offer the statement and the particulars of the statement including the content of the state- ment, the approximate time, date and location of the statement, the person to whom the statement was made and the circumstances surrounding the statement that indicate its trustworthiness, at such time as to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet it, and (4) either (A) the child testifies and is subject to cross-exam- ination at the proceeding, or (B) the child is unavailable as a witness and (i) there is indepen- dent nontestimonial corroborative evidence of the alleged act, and (ii) the statement was made prior to the defendant’s arrest or institution of juvenile proceedings in connection with the act described in the statement. ‘‘(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (1) prevent the admission of any statement under another hearsay exception, (2) allow broader definitions in other hearsay exceptions for statements made by children twelve years of age or younger at the time of the statement con- cerning any alleged act described in subsection (a) of this section than is done for other declarants, or (3) allow the admission pursuant to the residual hearsay exception of a statement described in subsection (a) of this section.’’ General Statutes § 54-86l. (Adopted June 30, 2008, to take effect Jan. 1, 2009; amended June 21, 2010, to take effect Jan. 1, 2011; amended Dec. 14, 2017, to take effect Feb. 1, 2018.) COMMENTARY This section, which parallels General Statutes § 54-86l, addresses the unique and limited area of statements made by children concerning alleged acts of sexual assault or other sexual misconduct against a child, or other alleged acts of physical abuse against the child by a parent, guardian or other person with like authority over the child at the time of the alleged act. Subsection (a) sets forth the factors that must be applied in considering the admissibility of such a statement. See, e.g., State v. Maguire, 310 Conn. 535, 565, 78 A.3d 828 (2013); State v. Griswold, 160 Conn. App. 528, 537–50, 127 A.3d 189, cert. denied, 320 Conn. 907, 128 A.3d 952 (2015). 43 Connecticut Code of Evidence