CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5885
Chapter 90, Laws of 2019
66TH LEGISLATURE
2019 REGULAR SESSION
CHILD VICTIM OF SEX OFFENSE--ADMISSIBILITY OF STATEMENTS
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 28, 2019
Passed by the Senate March 11, 2019
  Yeas 48  Nays 0
KAREN KEISER

President of the Senate
Passed by the House April 10, 2019
  Yeas 95  Nays 0
FRANK CHOPP

Speaker of the House of Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Brad Hendrickson, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5885 as passed by Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.
BRAD HENDRICKSON

Secretary
Secretary
Approved April 19, 2019 11:48 AM
FILED
April 22, 2019
JAY INSLEE

Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5885

Passed Legislature - 2019 Regular Session
State of Washington
66th Legislature
2019 Regular Session
BySenate Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Padden, Dhingra, O'Ban, Wilson, C., and Nguyen)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/19.
AN ACT Relating to the admissibility of testimony of children in criminal and dependency proceedings; and amending RCW 9A.44.120.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 9A.44.120 and 1995 c 76 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A statement not otherwise admissible by statute or court rule, is admissible in evidence in dependency proceedings under Title 13 RCW and criminal proceedings, including juvenile offense adjudications, in the courts of the state of Washington if:
(a)(i) It is made by a child when under the age of ten describing any act of sexual contact performed with or on the child by another, describing any attempted act of sexual contact with or on the child by another, or describing any act of physical abuse of the child by another that results in substantial bodily harm as defined by RCW 9A.04.110((, not otherwise admissible by statute or court rule, is admissible in evidence in dependency proceedings under Title 13 RCW and criminal proceedings, including juvenile offense adjudications, in the courts of the state of Washington if:)); or
(ii) It is made by a child when under the age of sixteen describing any of the following acts or attempted acts performed with or on the child: Trafficking under RCW 9A.40.100; commercial sexual abuse of a minor under RCW 9.68A.100; promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor under RCW 9.68A.101; or promoting travel for commercial sexual abuse of a minor under RCW 9.68A.102;
(((1)))(b) The court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and
(((2)))(c) The child either:
(((a)))(i) Testifies at the proceedings; or
(((b)))(ii) Is unavailable as a witness((: PROVIDED)), except that when the child is unavailable as a witness, such statement may be admitted only if there is corroborative evidence of the act.
(2) A statement may not be admitted under this section unless the proponent of the statement makes known to the adverse party his or her intention to offer the statement and the particulars of the statement sufficiently in advance of the proceedings to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet the statement.
Passed by the Senate March 11, 2019.
Passed by the House April 10, 2019.
Approved by the Governor April 19, 2019.
Filed in Office of Secretary of State April 22, 2019.
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