Committee OKs changes to allow child witnesses to testify outside defendant's presence; age threshold raised to 18

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to report Senate File 100 to the floor after adopting amendments that expand the bill's age coverage and clarify that courts may provide reasonable accommodations to child victims testifying in criminal cases.

Sponsor Senator Schueller told the committee the bill would let a child under the statute's age cutoff testify outside the presence of the defendant and jury in cases involving sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking and certain violent felonies if a court finds that in‑court testimony would cause more than de minimis emotional distress and that remote testimony is necessary to protect the child's welfare. “Before allowing this remote testimony, here's the key. The court has to hold a hearing, and they decide if testifying in the courtroom would cause the child to suffer more than de minimis…