State v. Perry

Defendant was charged with various crimes based on a child’s report that defendant had sexually abused her. The report was made several months after the crimes allegedly had occurred. At defendant’s trial, the court permitted an expert witness for the state to testify about a phenomenon known as “delayed reporting.” The expert testified that children who have been sexually abused often delay in reporting that abuse. The testimony was intended to rebut an inference that defendant sought to have the jury draw that the child’s failure to report defendant’s alleged acts of abuse immediately…