California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Mendoza (In re Mendoza), (Cal. App. 2013):
Evidence Code section 1360 allows for the admission of hearsay statements by a person under 12 years of age describing an act of child abuse or neglect, in a criminal prosecution. This section safeguards the reliability of a child's hearsay statements by requiring that: "(1) the court find, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances surrounding the statement(s) provide sufficient indicia of reliability; (2) the child either testifies at the proceedings, or, if the child is unavailable to testify, other evidence corroborates the out-of-court statements; and (3) the proponent of the statement gives notice to the adverse party sufficiently in advance of the proceeding to provide him or her with a fair opportunity to defend against the statement. [Citations.]" (People v. Roberto V. (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 1350, 1367, fn. omitted.)
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