Section 83. (a) Any out-of-court statements of a child under the age of ten describing any act of sexual contact performed on or with the child, the circumstances under which it occurred, or which identifies the perpetrator offered in an action brought under subparagraph C of section twenty-three or section twenty-four of chapter one hundred and nineteen shall be admissible; provided, however that the person to whom the statement was made, or who heard the child make the statement testifies, and the judge finds that the statement is offered as evidence of a material fact and is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable effort.
(b) An out-of-court statement admissible by common law or by statute shall remain admissible notwithstanding the provisions of this section.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
10
cases, 1992–2019 · leading case:
In re Adoption (&, 102 N.E.3d 1018 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018).
In re Adoption (&, 102 N.E.3d 1018 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018).
“2d 26 (1994) (child's hearsay statements regarding sexual abuse admissible pursuant to G. L. c. 233, § 83 ); Custody of Michel , 28 Mass.”
Adoption of Quentin, 678 N.E.2d 1325 (Mass. 1997).
“See Care & Protection of Rebecca, supra at 77 (hearsay evidence admissible under G. L. c. 233, § 83, in care *893 and protection proceedings).”
Care & Prot. of Rebecca, 643 N.E.2d 26 (Mass. 1994).
· cites it 2× “In this regard, she contends that: (1) out-of-court statements made by the twins when they were under the age of ten did not meet the criteria for admissibility under G. L. c. 233, § 83 (1992 ed.), a statutory exception to the hearsay rule applicable to care and protection…”
Commonwealth v. Colin C., 643 N.E.2d 19 (Mass. 1994).
“Other related concerns of the court arising from a care and protection hearing, governed by G. L. c. 233, § 83, are discussed in Care & Protection of Rebecca, post 67 (1994), released today.”
Care & Prot. of Inga, 634 N.E.2d 591 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994).
· cites it 2× “Counsel and the judge may also consider the availability of G. L. c. 233, § 83, which permits the admission of hearsay statements of a child under the age of ten upon the conditions and findings described in the statute.”
Care & Prot. of Leo, 646 N.E.2d 1086 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995).
· cites it 2× “2 Relying on that case, the father claims that the out-of-court statements made by Leo do not meet the criteria for admissibility under G. L. c. 233, § 83, and that they are likewise not admissible under G.”
Custody of Eleanor, 593 N.E.2d 253 (Mass. App. Ct. 1992).
“There was no indication of any emotional trauma caused by the incident, and there were no physical signs of injury. A professional sexual abuse evaluation of Eleanor shortly after the alleged incident was inconclusive, and there was testimony that Eleanor never even mentioned…”
Adoption of Lisette (Mass. App. Ct. 2018).
“67, 80-81 (1994) (child's hearsay statements regarding sexual abuse admissible pursuant to G. L. c. 233, § 83); Custody of Michel, 28 Mass.”
Adoption of Iliana (Mass. App. Ct. 2019).
“233 governs the admission of hearsay statements of child victims in criminal matters; G. L. c. 233, § 83, governs the admission of such statements in foster care and care and protection proceedings.”
In re Esme, 111 N.E.3d 1114 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018).
“788 , 793-794 (1993) (finding of sexual abuse need only be supported by preponderance of evidence); G. L. c. 233, § 83. 9 "[O]ur cases have routinely recognized a child's sexualized behavior or age- inappropriate knowledge of sexual matters as corroborative of an allegation of…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.