State v. Lamb

Defendant was charged with two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree. ORS 163.425. The state appeals from a pretrial order that excluded the 17-year-old victim’s out-of court statements about the alleged abuse, even though she was scheduled to testify in the proceeding and would have been available for cross-examination. The court ruled that the victim’s statements were inadmissible under OEC 803(18a)(b) because the child victim was over the age of 12. We conclude that, under OEC 803(18a)(b), the hearsay statements of a child victim under 18 years of age are admissible so long as the…