(1)  Notwithstanding any provision of law requiring corroboration of admissions or confessions, and notwithstanding any prohibition of hearsay evidence, a child’s statement indicating in any manner the occurrence of the sexual offense involving the child is sufficient corroboration of the admission or the confession regardless of whether or not the child is available to testify regarding the offense.

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Terms Used In Utah Code 76-5-409

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • Offense: means a violation of any penal statute of this state. See Utah Code 76-1-101.5
  • Person: means an individual, public or private corporation, government, partnership, or unincorporated association. See Utah Code 76-1-101.5
(2)  A child, for purposes of Subsection (1), is a person under the age of 14.

Enacted by Chapter 88, 1983 General Session