A new law will ensure that young victims of violent crimes won’t be re-traumatized when they seek justice through the criminal justice system. The law, sponsored by State Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), allows victims under the age of 13 to testify remotely in most cases.
“Children should never be a victim of a crime, but, unfortunately, when it does occur, they shouldn’t be retraumatized again by being forced to testify while their attacker stares them down in a courtroom,” said Rose.
House Bill 2607 creates a legal mechanism to allow victims under the age of 13 to testify outside the courtroom, with the testimony shown in the courtroom via a closed-circuit television system.
The legislation was inspired by constituents of Senator Rose who were forced to take legal action to prevent their child from being required to testify against their abuser in court, rather than via closed circuit TV.
“The legal process they were forced to go through served to make a terrible situation even worse,” Rose concluded. “I hope this new law will spare families from having to go through that experience in the future.”
The legislation was recently signed into law by the Governor.