Opinion ID: 2057494
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Child Shield Statutes

Text: In response to the increased awareness of the problem of sexual abuse of children, many States in recent years have enacted legislation, commonly termed child shield statutes, which permits victims of sexual abuse to testify by prerecorded videotape, by closed circuit television, or from behind a screen or similar device. (See generally Note, The Testimony of Child Victims in Sex Abuse Prosecutions: Two Legislative Innovations, 98 Harv. L. Rev. 806 (1985) (hereinafter Note, The Testimony of Child Victims ); Note, The Revision of Article 38.071 After Long v. State: The Troubles of a Child Shield Law in Texas, 40 Baylor L. Rev. 267, 289-90 & nn. 143, 144 (1988) (collecting statutes).) The purpose of these statutes is twofold: to protect the child witness from the potential trauma of testifying in open court, and to overcome some of the problems inherent in prosecuting a crime in which, typically, the only witness is the child victim who is frightened, forgetful, unable to specify dates or times, easily confused by cross-examination, and may be declared incompetent to testify. See Note, The Testimony of Child Victims, 98 Harv. L. Rev. at 806-08. In addition to statutes utilizing new technologies in cases of child sexual abuse, many States, including Illinois, have enacted statutes creating new exceptions to the rule against hearsay. Section 115-10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 115-10) allows the victim and others, under certain circumstances, to testify to out-of-court statements made by the victim concerning the alleged abuse. Section 115-13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 115-13) provides that in certain sex offense cases, statements made by the victim to medical personnel for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment shall be admitted as an exception to the hearsay rule. See generally Note, The Testimony of Child Victims, 98 Harv. L. Rev. 806, 811-13, 817-22 (analyzing hearsay statutes).