You are here: / / VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEWS OF RESPONDENT FATHER’S CHILDREN LED TO CRIMINAL...
, , ,

VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEWS OF RESPONDENT FATHER’S CHILDREN LED TO CRIMINAL SEXUAL ABUSE CHARGES AGAINST FATHER WHICH WERE DISMISSED BECAUSE OF A LACK OF WITNESS COOPERATION; THE VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEWS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE SEALING REQUIREMENT IN THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW AND CAN BE USED IN A FAMILY COURT PROCEEDING ALLEGING SEXUAL ABUSE BY FATHER (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Gonzalez, determined that videotaped interviews respondent father’s children by the Manhattan Child Advocacy Center (CAC) are not subject to sealing under Criminal Procedure Law (CPL)  160.50 and therefore can be presented in a Family Court proceeding brought by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) alleging sexual abuse by father. The related criminal charges against father had been dismissed because of a lack of witness cooperation:

The argument advanced by ACS and the attorney for the children, which analogizes the CAC videos to 911 recordings, is persuasive. This Court has held that 911 calls are not official records within the meaning of CPL 160.50, as the 911 system serves a broader purpose than solely relating to criminal arrests and prosecutions … . Similar to a 911 call, which is handled by the NYPD and may or may not lead to a police response and criminal proceeding, a forensic interview at CAC is an initial information-gathering process, not inherently tied to any arrest or prosecution that may follow.

The recorded interviews of the children, in which they gave their own accounts of the father’s actions to an independent forensic interviewer, did not contain any information about the father’s arrest or discontinued prosecution. Sealing the videotaped interviews would undermine the CAC and multidisciplinary model. Although we recognize that there is a delicate balance between the compelling need to protect the welfare of children and the right of criminal defendants to be free from the stigma of an unsustained prosecution, CPL 160.50 should not be used to override the truth-finding and child-protective missions of the Family Court. Leah W. v Keith W., 2025 NY Slip Op 05041 First Dept 9-23-25

Practice Point: Videotaped interviews of father’s children by CAC led to criminal sex abuse charges against father which were dismissed. The videotaped interviews are not “official records and papers” subject to the sealing requirements in CPL 160.50 and therefore are available for use in related Family Court proceedings against father.

 

You might also like
Usual Criteria for Piercing the Corporate Veil Applied in Fraudulent Conveyance Action
EVIDENCE SUFFICIENT TO DEMONSTRATE BUS DRIVER SHOULD HAVE SEEN DECEDENT.
PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY WAS NOT AWARE OF COVID-RELATED PROCEDURAL CHANGES FOR CONDUCTING COMPLIANCE CONFERENCES; PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO VACATE DISMISSAL OF THE ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFF ALLEGED SHE SLIPPED ON LIQUID AND FELL AFTER REACHING FOR THE HANDRAIL, WHICH WAS LOOSE, DEFENDANTS DEMONSTRATED THEY DID NOT HAVE NOTICE OF THE LIQUID BUT DID NOT MEET THEIR BURDEN ON THE ALLEGEDLY LOOSE HANDRAIL (FIRST DEPT).
EQUITABLE ACTION SEEKING RESCISSION BASED UPON FRAUD NEED NOT ALLEGE PECUNIARY LOSS.
INCARCERATED FATHER SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED IN-PERSON VISITATION WITH HIS SON ONCE EVERY SIX MONTHS; FATHER HAD STABBED MOTHER WHILE SHE WAS HOLDING THE CHILD AND FATHER HAD HARASSED MOTHER DURING PERMITTED PHONE CALLS (FIRST DEPT).
Court Should Not Have Instructed the Jury on the Initial Aggressor Exception to the Justification Defense—No Evidence to Support the Exception
Trial Court’s Failure to Address Defendant’s Requests to Proceed Pro Se Required Reversal

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THE “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES” WHICH WOULD JUSTIFY RETAINING... PLAINTIFFS’ REQUEST FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY IN OPPOSITION TO AN “ANTI-SLAPP-LAW”...