Section 642-A. Fair treatment of child victims as witnesses  


Latest version.
  • To the extent
      permitted  by  law,  criminal  justice  agencies,  crime  victim-related
      agencies,  social services agencies and the courts shall comply with the
      following guidelines in their treatment of child victims:
        1. To minimize the number of times a child victim is  called  upon  to
      recite  the  events  of  the  case  and to foster a feeling of trust and
      confidence in the child  victim,  whenever  practicable  and  where  one
      exists, a multi-disciplinary team as established pursuant to subdivision
      six  of  section  four  hundred  twenty-three of the social services law
      and/or a child advocacy center shall be used for the  investigation  and
      prosecution  of  child  abuse  cases  involving  abuse  of  a  child, as
      described in paragraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of subdivision (e) of  section
      one  thousand twelve of the family court act, sexual abuse of a child or
      the death of a child.
        2. Whenever practicable, the same prosecutor should handle all aspects
      of a case involving an alleged child victim.
        3. To minimize the time during which a child victim  must  endure  the
      stress  of  his  involvement  in  the proceedings, the court should take
      appropriate action to ensure a speedy trial in all proceedings involving
      an alleged child victim. In ruling on any motion or request for a  delay
      or  continuance  of  a proceeding involving an alleged child victim, the
      court should consider and give weight to any  potential  adverse  impact
      the delay or continuance may have on the well-being of the child.
        4.  The  judge  presiding should be sensitive to the psychological and
      emotional stress a child witness may undergo when testifying.
        5. In accordance with the provisions  of  article  sixty-five  of  the
      criminal  procedure law, when appropriate, a child witness as defined in
      subdivision one of section 65.00 of such  law  should  be  permitted  to
      testify via live, two-way closed-circuit television.
        6. In accordance with the provisions of section 190.32 of the criminal
      procedure  law,  a  person supportive of the "child witness" or "special
      witness" as defined in such section should be permitted  to  be  present
      and  accessible  to  a  child witness at all times during his testimony,
      although the person supportive  of  the  child  witness  should  not  be
      permitted to influence the child's testimony.
        7.  A child witness should be permitted in the discretion of the court
      to use anatomically correct dolls and drawings during his testimony.