In re A.B.

A.B. appeals from a family court finding of delinquency for the commission of a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under sixteen, in violation of 13 V.S.A. § 2602. A.B. contends the court erred in: (1) excluding the testimony of two defense witnesses; and (2) denying a post-trial motion to dismiss. We conclude that the first claim of error has merit and, therefore, reverse.

The evidence at trial disclosed that A.B., who was fifteen years old, lived with his family in a rural area of Addision County near a duplex in which two other families with children resided. One of the families had three…