Following a judge-alone criminal trial on a 16-count indictment alleging sexual offences, internet luring, communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services from underage persons, and threats involving multiple teenage complainants, the court conducted a detailed credibility analysis and applied the principled hearsay exception to admit part of a non-testifying child complainant's statement.
The court found necessity and threshold reliability established for the written statement and the pre-writing portion of the videotaped interview, but excluded the later police-led questioning.
The court also admitted limited similar act evidence to assist with identification of the user of social media accounts and with proof of certain allegations.
The accused was convicted on counts 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 16, with count 11 withdrawn and the remaining counts dismissed.
