A 4-year-old’s testimony alleging that her father performed numerous sexual acts on her – captured as a DVD interview with a New York State Police officer – was not an “exceptional case” where uncorroborated hearsay was solely sufficient to find abuse had taken place, the Commonwealth Court has ruled, reversing a Pennsylvania Department of Welfare decision to allow the interview as evidence in court.
The department’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals had denied the request of the father, referred to as R.A., to expunge a report that he sexually abused his daughter, E.A., now 7. By admitting the DVD, R.A. argued on appeal, the bureau had violated his constitutional right to confront his daughter about the details of a case that the girl’s mother brought in 2009.
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