HEARSAY STATEMENTS OF THE ALLEGED VICTIM WERE NOT CORROBORATED, NEGLECT FINDING REVERSED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing the neglect finding, determined the hearsay statements of the alleged victim were not corroborated:
The finding of neglect was not supported by a preponderance of the evidence. “Unsworn out-of-court statements of the victim may be received and, if properly corroborated, will support a finding of abuse or neglect” … . Here, the child’s out-of-court statement made during his videotaped interview with an investigator from the the Child Advocacy Center, that respondent bit him on the right shoulder during a January 2017 incident, was not sufficiently corroborated … . Although medical findings confirmed that the child sustained injuries that were consistent with a bite mark, those findings in no way connected those marks to respondent. Further, there is no dispute that the child told respondent that he was going to make false allegations against her to the Administration for Children’s Services while the fact-finding hearing was pending, rendering his overall credibility quite impaired. Matter of Jaylin S. (Jasmine E.T.), 2020 NY Slip Op 05606, First Dept 10-8-20